Color Of The Horizon
by DieletzteBlume
Summary: 2029. The world has burst into chaos, violent creatures ripping flesh from every human in their way. Yoongi was sick of this life, sick of being hungry, sick of being scared. He thought suffering was all he would do in this life, that is until he meets someone who makes living enjoyable. BTS Min Yoongi / Park Jimin Zombie Apocalypse AU
1. Chapter 1 New Beginnings

„Fuck, shit, fuck! "

Ah, what a wonderful day it was. Yoongi tried to sit up but the thin branches and leaves that were getting stuck on his clothes were making it hard for him. Regaining his balance, he put his leg over the thickest branch he could find and swung himself and his backpack up and off the ground. He could hear his blood pumping through his body, the adrenaline kicking in one moment after the other and while getting stuck on a fucking tree wasn't his favorite activity, getting eaten by a bunch of half dead creatures wasn't exactly something the pale man would like to join in.

Cursing god and the world, he finally found a spot comfortable enough for him to stay for a few hours, so he could take out his rope and tie himself to the tree. He hadn't gotten enough sleep since, well, forever, and he didn't want to fall off the damn tree in his sleep. He had been stupid enough to do this before on his journey and it's how he ended up in this situation in the first place. No family, no friends, only one arm and even his hair looked bleached as hell.

Wonderful.

Then again it wasn't his fault that some scientists decided to just let a virus out into the world in the hopes that it would cure cancer. Oh, how wrong they had been. Yoongi couldn't blame them for trying to make the world a better place but after everything that had happened he didn't find it in himself to forgive them.

He observed the cuts and bruises on his arms and legs and wondered how he got them. He had been injured countless times and he wondered why he was even still alive. Slowly and carefully he wrapped the rope around his midsection, careful to avoid his belt, and slumped back against the tree. When he was finally done he took a look into his green army backpack, which he borrowed from his friend, Taehyung was his name, before the whole chaos went down in 2029. Yoongi wasn't sure if his energetic and kind friend was still alive, but he dearly hoped that he was somewhere safe, hidden from all the gruesome things the world had offered them in the last few years.

He didn't remember much before his transformation, but he knew that it was something humans couldn't stop even if they had tried harder, even if they had noticed the symptoms sooner. The thought gave the 25-year-old both a feeling of relief and panic, because, if they couldn't stop it before, would it be possible to stop it now?

He took out his water bottle and noticed it was empty. "Damn it!" Yoongi growled angrily and almost threw the plastic down on the ground. He remembered that it was the only thing left for him to carry water in and decided to keep his rage to himself. He was never good at containing his negative feelings and now that his mother was gone, he could swear and punch all he liked. Yoongi still missed his family but he wasn't treated like a child should have been treated and so he distanced himself more and more from them before he started his journey.

He wondered what his mother would say if she saw him like this, white hair, dark circles, bloodshot eyes, protheses on his left arm, ripped clothes. Nothing about him was the same anymore.

Would she be terrified?

Would she abandon him? Would she hold him in her arms and tell him it was fine? He shook his head and leaned back a bit. He had asked himself the same questions over and over but he never got an answer and he didn't mind. He didn't want to know. He didn't _care_. Just like they didn't care about him in the past. In times like these Yoongi wishes he still had Taehyung with him. Sure, he was annoying and quite a handful to deal with but he was a nice guy nonetheless and always supportive of him. He called him Suga.

"Why Suga? That's so dumb." "But you look so cute when you smile!"

And that's just how it went. Now depressed, tired and thirsty, Yoongi decided that it was time to sleep. He hoped that he would wake up and the world would be the same as it was before.

.

.

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After what seems like only a few hours Yoongi is jerked awake by a noise. He takes out the knife which he placed inside his right shoe and waits for things to happen. He slowly loosens the rope and waits. Several minutes pass.

Thump. Clack. Rustle. "OW!"

What?

 _What?_

Did he just? Yoongi listens more closely. Breathing. Someone or something is breathing very close to him. Trying to see more, he opens his eyes a little wider, instinct in the back of his head, calling him to make a move. In the corner of his eye he sees a silhouette of which seemed like a small person. Quick as a bullet he turns around and points his military knife at whoever decided to intrude on his hiding spot.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

He notices how the eyes of the boy seemed to widen when he spots Yoongi from his position a few branches down the tree. Realization seems to dawn on his features as he reaches for his back in a panicked fashion and tries to get a hold of something, anything, to defend himself with. The boy decided to go with his gun.

But he was way too slow and Yoongi already had the sharp object at the poor boy's throat before he could even turn back around. "Y-You! You!" the black-haired male stuttered. Fear was written clear on his face and Yoongi wondered if he had ever seen someone that terrified of him in his entire life.

"Why are you here?" the blonde asked. It was kind of a dumb question, Yoongi decided. There were zombies everywhere after all but he demanded to know why this guy, this kid, decided to choose the same tree as him as a hiding spot. "Please don't hurt me!" the boy yelled desperately and held his hands up. How did this kid even survive until now?

"I said. Why are you here?" Yoongi repeated.

He was getting annoyed by this kid's behavior. "I-I was just trying to, to, um, not get eaten? But I don't understand. You are? Aren't you? I mean. Not to be rude or anything but could it be that you are one of them? One of the beings?"

Did he hear that correctly?

Yoongi wanted to laugh. This kid, trying to be polite even when he was being threatened? Who even does that?

"What the hell. God, just. Get up there. And don't threaten me. Bullets can't kill me anyway." Yoongi took his knife and put it back where he kept it. Why was he like this? Scared? Of someone like that? Yoongi chuckled to himself. The kid wouldn't be able to hurt a fly.

"What? But." The blonde shot him a glare. "Okay." The boy got up on Yoongi's (really? Yoongi's?) branch and tried not to lose his balance, which he seemed to regain pretty quickly. Well, this was awkward. It's been a while since he met someone who looked even remotely human. He mostly just saw deserts, trees, fields, zombies, zombies, stone, wind, zombies and even more zombies.

What a boring life he's had until now.

"Stop moving. If we fall we are both dead for sure." Both of them looked down and observed how some of the beings circled the trees in interest, their reeking bodies piling on one another to try and reach their newly found food. Their bodies were covered in mold, flesh barely recognizable and eyes white as the moon at night. Yoongi couldn't believe he could have turned out to be like that.

"Um, thank you?"

After what felt like hours Yoongi finally heard the boy speak. His voice was soft and innocent, something that didn't belong somewhere where blood and violence was common and necessary.

"Whatever."

He didn't have time to deal with this. God, it was so awkward. What was he supposed to do? Comfort the kid? He wasn't a babysitter. He was never good at interacting with others anyway.

"How long do you think they will stay h-here?" The black-haired boy asked. It was clear that he was still scared. Yoongi wondered how old he was. He seemed very young. "Probably just until tomorrow. They usually walk away after not getting food for a long time. Those idiots." After a short nod, his new roommate (treemate?) decided that it was for the best to stay still for a while. Yoongi's annoyed expression didn't seem to stop him from talking, though. "I'm Park Jimin, by the way. And you are?"

Are you fucking kidding me? This wasn't the time for introductions, he decided but answered anyway. "Min Yoongi." he mumbled and turned away to observe more of the creatures' behavior. Jimin smiled at him and turned to get something out of his backpack. So, when Jimin offered him his water bottle he just couldn't refuse. It had been days since he had been properly hydrated, saving his water for when he felt particularly hot or tired. It was hard to get clean water after all.

But here was this kid, offering him this to him as if it wouldn't be a problem at all. Like someone giving him water after gym class. It was surprising how emotional Yoongi got at the thought. So, when he was done drinking the cool liquid down, he had the decency to thank him. The kid just smiled at him, eyes and all and Yoongi was confused at the sincerity of it. Who was this guy to pretend like everything was fine? Then again, it kind of was, wasn't it? He was alive and somewhat healthy, ignoring the virus that was apparently stuck in his body.

"So." Jimin began, shifting a little and looking at Yoongi from where he was sitting on their shared space. Yoongi didn't look up at first, fiddling with his tracking device, which Jimin seemed to be very confused by. After a few minutes Yoongi finally looked up. "What? What is it?" he asked, sighing as he tried to fix his device as best he could. Why wasn't this thing working? It did just a few hours ago. "Um I'm not sure if it's ok to ask you this but- "Yoongi interrupted him. "If you are not sure about asking something, then you shouldn't do it." Jimin shut his mouth slowly, nodding and playing with his hair. "Sorry. But uh, how old are you? That is something normal to ask right?" He grinned and once again the other man questioned himself why he was dealing with this person in the first place. "26. You?" Jimin's face lit up, happy that he answered his question. "I'm 22 years old." Jimin said and Yoongi wondered why someone so young would be heading through this world on his own.

Sure, in these kinds of times it wasn't unusual for people to be traveling on their own but Jimin didn't struck Yoongi as the type to go on a journey alone on purpose. He was too soft, too weak, too innocent. Then again, it wasn't like Yoongi to care about other peoples' business so he decided to drop the thought.

Some time went by, neither of them saying a word. It was a tense silence but not as awkward as before. Yoongi and Jimin observed how most of the zombies disappeared and went to search for something to eat somewhere else.

He decided then that this was the moment to escape before the sun rose in the east. He started packing his things, checking his prothesis and getting ready to climb off the tree. Jimin seemed to catch on and packed his things as well, fast but clumsy movements shoving his belongings back into his backpack and following Yoongi close behind. "Why are you following me?" Yoongi hissed. He didn't mean to be an asshole to this guy but he really didn't need anyone following for god's sake. He decided right on day one that he would travel alone. No companions allowed. But Jimin didn't seem to care as he followed Yoongi closely but silently, not even answering him on his way down. Yoongi huffed. What was up with this kid.

Slowly and quietly both of them sneaked through some of the bushes. The smell of smoke and earth was in the air, it was all too familiar to the 25-year-old, having spent the last two years on the run through this part of Korea. They finally made their way down a street surrounded by houses, trashcans and corpses, down what seemed to be an abandoned gas station. Yoongi covered his nose, the smell of rotting flesh hitting him in the face harshly. He would never get used to it.

It freaked him out at first, seeing dead people, but now it was just part of his lifestyle and getting emotional over something like this wasn't something Yoongi wanted to do. It was distracting and possibly threatening his life if he wasn't careful enough. That didn't mean that it didn't make him sick to his very core, though, thinking about whose family member this once might have been.

He heard Jimin gasp behind him, holding a piece of his shirt to his nose and exhaling shakily. "Keep it down." Yoongi ordered but his tone wasn't as harsh as Jimin had anticipated. He'd been in the same state Jimin was in when he first started to fight on his own. He wondered if Jimin had been hiding somewhere, in a place where he couldn't see the corpses. But his questions were forgotten when they finally arrived at their destination.

Immediately Yoongi opened the glass doors, sliding in swiftly and walking though the isles, stepping over fallen objects and heading directly towards the drinks section. Jimin followed behind him clumsily, though he was crouching down after a while, picking up a can of what seemed to be cherries. Yoongi took the first bottle of liquor he could find, messily opening it with his right arm and taking a swing of the burning liquid, sighing as he sat down on the floor.

"Really? The first thing you do is get drunk? Shouldn't one, well, you know, eat food first or drink something that doesn't have 40 percent alcohol in it?" Jimin asked, brows furrowed in confusion while sitting down in front of his newly found partner. Slowly opening the can, Jimin took out which seemed to be a spoon from his backpack and shoveling the fruits inside his mouth.

"Makes me feel good 'cause nothing in this world makes me feel joy anymore." Yoongi said. Jimin looked at him with a sad look on his face but Yoongi burst out laughing. "I'm kidding. God, did you really think I was that pathetic? I'm just drinking it because it distracts me from the pain in my arm. And I don't have any medicine with me." He lifted his left arm, showing Jimin his prothesis, which was attached to his arm, though the skin around it seemed to have started to bruise and swell, red spots lingering in contrast to the rest of his fair skin.

Jimin put the can down and leaned a little closer, observing Yoongi's arm with more interest now. "How did that happen?" he asked and Yoongi could see the shock on the other's face. He probably didn't mean to blurt out the words but he didn't mind. They were stuck there for a short while anyway. "Okay so you probably wondered why I looked like one of them but also kind of human?" he asked, Jimin nodding his head, shoving more cherries into his mouth. "I'm half transformed." The older man said like it was the most normal thing to say on planet earth and Jimin nearly spit out his food, coughing for a moment before looking at Yoongi in shock. "Y-You what? Half transformed? But that's not possible. Everyone who gets bitten turns into one of them. I have seen it." Jimin insisted, pointing a finger at Yoongi's arm.

"I cut my arm off before it could spread through the rest of my body." Yoongi answered coldly, lightly tracing over the edge of his injured arm. The younger boy sat back in disbelief, trying to comprehend what Yoongi just told him. He always got this reaction, that is, when someone actually tried to listen to him. Usually they just got scared and turned away from him. But this was rather amusing to him.

"I don't even know what to say." Jimin answered, still in shock by what the older man had just told him. "I had to do it to survive. There was no other way." Yoongi mumbled and took another swing from the bottle. He took a better look at the boy before him. Round cheeks, small shoulders, black hair and ripped clothes. He looked way too soft to be stuck in this world. How did he get this far? There seemed to be some scars and scratches on his face and hands, probably from climbing hiding. Yoongi eyed Jimin's loose pants, which seemed to be almost falling down his hips, only held up by his oversized black shirt.

"You should probably change into something else while we're here. I'm sure they have some clothes around here." Yoongi said, standing up and grabbing something which seemed to be a granola bar. Jimin took a look at his clothes, confused by his statement. "You're going to get stuck on everything with that much fabric on you. Pick something tighter. It won't get you killed." He said casually, sitting back down. "Oh. Right." Jimin stated lamely, standing up and looking for something to wear. Was this kid just going to listen to him?

Yoongi took a big bite out of his granola bar, cringing at how stale it tasted. But it was better than nothing. Stuffing his backpack with more food and water, he walked around slowly, looking for some medicine or anything to soothe the pain in his arm.

"Hyung!" He heard someone calling him from behind. Yoongi furrowed his brows. Hyung? Were they that close now?

"What is it?" He asked. "I found this in the back of the shop." Jimin shouted happily, shoving which seemed like a container of cream into his hands. He seemed to have found clothes that fit his body better, now wearing tighter pants and also what seemed to be a black denim jacket. "I think it's gonna help with the swelling." Yoongi took a look at the label. "Expiration date: June 2034" he mumbled quietly, turning the container around. He opened it and put some of the substance on the part of his left arm where flesh met the cold material of his prothesis. Jimin grinned up at him. "You're welcome!" Yoongi just grumbled in response, going back to their belongings.

Yoongi took a look at his tracking device. The date read August 23rd 2032, 8:34 am. He had been traveling for almost three years now. It felt like a lifetime to him.

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.

.

They just sat there in silence, each of them either eating, cleaning themselves up or playing with something to pass the time. After a while Jimin asked "Do you wanna play a game?"

Yoongi looked up, having dozed off for a few minutes. "Huh?" "A game! I saw some cards back in the toys section. Wanna play?" Jimin stood up, looking at his new friend (were they friends?) expectedly. He considered his offer for a moment. Usually this wasn't the kind of activity Yoongi participated in, then again, he spent most of his time alone so this was like breath of fresh air to him. Even if he didn't like people at all. "Fuck it. I guess one round can't hurt." He replied, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

Jimin smiled at him, excitingly running down to the spot he said he found the cards, coming back moments later and scooching closer to his hyung. "What game do you want to play?"

"How about War?" Yoongi asked, leaning back and taking another sip from his alcohol. "I don't think I've played that before." Jimin answered, tipping his head to the side. "Can you teach me how to play?" "It's not that hard. It's actually a game for kids. I learned it from my brother." Yoongi said, Jimin listening to him with interest. He took the stack of cards into his hands to demonstrate.

"Okay so each player turns up a card at the same time." Yoongi took two cards into his hands, turning them around slowly. "And the player with the higher card takes both cards and puts them, face down, on the bottom of his stack, like this." Yoongi took both of the cards and lifted his stack to put the new cards underneath it.

Jimin nodded, following his hands with concentration. Yoongi smiled. It was fun to do this with someone other than himself. "If the cards are the same rank it is War. Each player turns up one card, see." Yoongi took two more cards but he didn't turn them around just yet. He selected two more cards, turning them around this time. "Face down and one card face up. And the player with the higher cards takes both piles, which are six cards. Do you get it?" Yoongi asked, shuffling the deck of cards to start the round. "I think I got it. Though I feel like I will get it wrong at the start." Jimin answered sheepishly. "That's fine. You learn by playing the game."

They started the round and he was surprised by how fast Jimin learned to play the game. He even won most of the rounds, which the older didn't accept so easily and challenged Jimin to another game. The black-haired boy giggled, clearly finding his opponent's competitive behavior amusing.

While Jimin selected some new cards, Yoongi thought about how bizarre this situation was. This guy just showed up out of nowhere and now here he was, playing cards with him. Was this ok? Was he allowed to attach himself to this stranger? It felt weird but also good after being alone for such a long time.

Yoongi smirked when he won the next round, watching as the younger frowned and looked at his cards in confusion. When the 22-year-old finally looked up, he was already standing up and collecting the cards, pushing them to the side. Yoongi decided it was time for them to secure the place for however long they would stay here so while Jimin sat on the floor, dealing with a cut on his wrist, he disappeared to the back, opening several doors and checking if there was anything useful for him to take with him on his journey.

However, all he did find were a broom closet, a dirty bathroom that smelled like piss, a kitchen or what looked like a workers' community room with nothing but used cups and plates, a storage room that was completely empty and a back door.

He decided that it was time for him to secure the back side of the supermarket. So, he took some of the supplies he could find and checked through the window if there was anything that could harm him. When he decided that it was safe he sneaked around the building, closing up openings and creaks to make the place a little safer for their stay. It wasn't anything necessary but Yoongi thought it was important since there could always be danger around.

And he preferred to keep his distance to those things that attacked him.

"Hyung?" Jimin asked. "Yeah?" "Where are you going after we leave this place?" Yoongi looked up, thinking for a few seconds. "I'm not sure but I guess I have somewhere I need to be. So, I'm going there." He answered honestly. He wanted to find his friends who had contacted him at the beginning of his journey, telling him to come to Seoul. They would meet up there when the time was right. "Can I come with you?" Jimin asked, his voice insecure but hopeful.

Yoongi looked at him in shock. He usually refused to let people come with him on his journey. But he missed having someone around to talk to and Jimin seemed to be a decent guy.

"Sure, kid." He answered, grinning a little at his new companion. Jimin grinned back at him, teeth pressed together in excitement, eyes turning into little crescent moons.

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Yoongi just hoped he wouldn't regret his decision later.


	2. Chapter 2 Vulnerability

They had spent more than 15 hours in this building now.

It was now 11 pm and Yoongi was starting to get cold, his skin getting rough and his hands quivering. He noticed how the same thing happened to the other man, his hands hiding in his shirt, body curled up and head hanging low. Now was the time to get blankets, he thought. He didn't want to catch another cold. That fucking thing had been bothering him for what felt close to an eternity a few weeks back. And it wasn't fun, climbing and running in the heat of the summer sun, nose still running and throat itching, the sensation close to a scenario where ants were running around on the inside. It had made him anxious and annoyed, getting even more pissed off when his strength lessened while fighting.

He was glad that was over and now he had even more of a reason to keep his health in check. It was funny how things like that still affected him, even with the virus inside him. He wondered how it worked, this little thing. He couldn't even see it but he knew it had changed everything in his body when he got attacked.

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The sun was burning his skin, pale cells turning red and muscles screaming in effort of keeping himself from falling, his arms swinging his weapon around, trying to hit at least one of them in the head.

His skin protested against the foreign things invading it, a panicked scream coming out of his throat but he didn't even register it, ears deaf to the sounds around him. All he could do was focus on the brutal pain in his arm.

Yoongi swung his weapon around, a shovel he found on the ground. One of them had bitten him. Turning around fast, hitting whatever it was in his way to the ground, he ran. And he ran. And he didn't know what was happening but he felt it crawling up his arm.

When he looked down he saw something that horrified him.

The bite marks weren't that deep but his arm was turning green and blue, blood vessels popping out and forming a what some might consider to be a beautiful design. Blood was running down his hand, staining the ground and his shirt. It was painful, incredibly so and even someone as experienced as Yoongi couldn't stop the whimpers and sobs that wrecked his body. He wasn't just terrified because of the pain, but because it looked so disgusting to him, so weird, so foreign, that he didn't know what to do with himself.

Hush now, he told himself, don't let them hear you. He knew they would find him if he continued to be loud and there was no one to help him with this.

Running into the nearest building, a tall one with big glass windows, he could all but hope that there were no other beings in this area of the city. He ran up the stairs, as fast as he could. He knew it was reckless. He knew it was dangerous. But fuck him if he wasn't going to try and safe himself. This was more than just a little cut. And it was more than his own problem. There were people counting on him, people who needed him. There was no other way, he had to survive, he had to stay human.

And once Yoongi decided on something, he was going to fucking go through with it.

He was on the roof now. His breathing was heavy, his legs almost giving in and sweat dripping down his skin. Slamming the door shut, he threw himself on the floor, backpack in front of him. He immediately took out the rope that he kept with him, pulling the sleeves of his dirty shirt up and tying the rough rope around his arm, above his elbow, cutting off the blood that ran through it. He had to act fast now. Putting a piece of leather between his teeth, he took out the sharp knife his friend had given him in the military camp. The smooth silver was shining in the blinding light of the sun and he wondered if this was the last time he was ever going to see it.

But it was no time for regrets now and so he braced himself, breathing roughly, growls escaping his mouth, which were muffled by the leather. He then started to cut below the rope. All he could hear were his own painful gasps and screams, losing his balance and falling onto the floor. Blood gushed out from where he was cutting through the flesh. It was not a pretty sight. Blinded by the pain, he stopped.

This was not okay. He was going to die if he stopped now.

And so, he cut even more, until he reached a part of his bone. It was easier to cut through the joint, he had learned. It was not easy to cut off the bone like this unless he had some device to cut if off with, a knife wouldn't do. So, he had through the joint somehow. And he did so by smashing it against a metal wall which he reached with a ton of effort, crawling on his hands and knees. The burn he felt in his arm was almost unbearable, feeling his nerves getting cut. After several more moments, the rest of his arm was off and he collected a piece of cloth, holding it tight to the open wound.

He would have to disinfect it later, knowing that an infection would make the situation even worse.

Cursing all the way, he placed himself under something to shield him from the rain he was anticipating, having observed the clouds for a while and feeling how the wind had picked up. Trying to distract himself, he searched for something that could help him on this mission. He pried off his other arm from the injured one and grabbed for his backpack. He searched through his belongings, picking up pieces and throwing them out, useless in the situation he was in now. He finally found a small bottle of vodka, half of the liquid still in it and Yoongi cursed himself for his addiction to alcoholic beverages. Fuck, he thought, if only he hadn't consumed the other half a few days back when he was feeling down.

He took of the piece of cloth, old blood starting to solidify and new blood gushing out, turning the once white fabric red. Fast, he poured the transparent liquid onto his wound, grateful for the leather that was still stuck in his mouth. He didn't trust himself in a moment like this. And with more screaming and thrashing, he somehow managed to clean the wound to some degree, pulling out a new piece of cloth and tying it to the end of his arm.

He had to think fast now. He couldn't stay here. The wound wouldn't heal properly.

Yoongi decided he needed help. Fast. The first thing he did was stand up slowly, his head feeling dizzy and his limbs heavy.

He tumbled down the stairs, barely holding himself up but he made it, somehow. After about an hour of walking and dodging several areas with zombies in it, he found an abandoned hospital. Convenient, he thought to himself. But he had to admit to himself that even to him this seemed impossible to him. He reminded himself to thank what- or whoever decided to help him but for now, he needed to get this done.

"Someone help me! Hello!" He knew it was absurd to hope for people to be in this building. That was when he almost fainted, seeing a silhouette of which seemed to be a human, a tall man with big eyes, running towards him and observing his arm. However, the person looked up, suddenly letting go of his limb, stumbling backwards and falling to the floor. "Get away from me." The man rasped out, crawling backwards slowy. Yoongi was confused. Why was he not helping him? Didn't he see that he was dying?

He turned to the side, a dirty window coming into his sight and that's when he realized.

His hair wasn't dark brown anymore, instead it was now white as snow, the sickeningly white light of the hospital lamps bouncing off his locks, making it look almost silver. His skin was pale, like it had been before but it had a slightly green tint to it, making him look ill, his eyes were bloodshot, looking tired and alert at the same time.

He looked like a wreck and worse- he looked like one of them.

Yoongi was shocked by his appearance and he couldn't blame the man for being scared. He was scared of himself, too. But that didn't stop himself from trying.

"Please, I know I look like one of them but, here, I-I tried to cut it off. I'm not a professional so please, _please_ help me! I would have transformed by a now, I know it. Do whatever you want, just help me. I'm going to die if you don't do something." He begged desperately, his knees hitting the tiles harshly.

This was his last chance; this person was his last chance.

That's when his body finally gave in, the blood loss taking its effect on him, making him dizzy and letting his body hit the floor fully. His eyes closed and the last thing he saw was the figure of that man standing in front of him.

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Coming to terms with the fact that he would probably never know how this thing worked, he made his way to the other end of the supermarket, collecting material to burn and some blankets and shirts to cover themselves with. At least he was alive. His life may not be the best but it was worth living and he was happy about that. He surprised himself by thinking in such a positive manner for once but he didn't reject the feeling.

He came back to Jimin, hands holding up wood and coal, some blankets slung over his back as well, handing one to the younger, who accepted them with a grateful smile.

With a few movements, Yoongi managed to set fire to the now burning elements, the red light flickering ever so slightly in their small space, the warmth of the color giving them a comforting feeling. It was nice. He used a different piece of metal to sharpen his knife, which had become dull over time, cutting rope for protection and flesh to cook. It would be useless if he kept using it this way and it was an activity that brought the older a small amount of peace in his mind. Giving it a little rest.

The younger slung the blanket over his shoulders, cuddling into it a little bit and covering his nose to hide it from the cold. It was quite endearing and once more Yoongi couldn't believe this boy was here with him. "Hey Jimin." The white-haired man called, eyes focused on the knife as to not cut himself. "Hmmm?" the other hummed, his tone sleepy and content. "What did you do before all of this? I mean did you even have a job? I mean you look like a fucking toddler so I was thinking you were still in school." Yoongi smirked.

His friend lifted his head abruptly, pout on his lips. "I'm 22! Of course, I'm not in school anymore." He huffed, lifting his arms and slouching back a bit. The older chuckled. This kid was too funny. "So, what is it that you do then?" he asked, tone amused and light. "I am actually a doctor." Jimin stated proudly, puffing out his chest.

Yoongi's knife almost slipped. "Fuck!" he cursed, observing his fingers for any cuts. "Oh my god, are you okay?!" Jimin stood up immediately and ran to his side, observing his hand.

"You're a fucking doctor? Shit but how? Don't you have to like study for a long time, though?" Yoongi looked up, after making sure that his finger was still intact.

"I graduated early, my grades were pretty good and the rest just happened, I guess. Haven't had a lot of real life experience, though. They wouldn't let me operate just yet." He stated, tugging a little at his fingers.

Interesting.

"Holy shit." Yoongi just said lamely, glancing at Jimin with his head tipped to the side. This guy was smarter than he thought. Damn.

"Um, yeah. Most people are surprised by it." The 22-year-old smiled shyly. "I can, uhm, help you with your arm if- if you want?" he asked, voice unsure.

Yoongi thought about it for a second. He wasn't fond of the idea of someone touching his arm like this but Jimin seemed to be a professional, unexperienced, sure, but still. He wouldn't get close to a real doctor anytime soon. This will do.

"Sure, I guess." He said, turning to his side a bit, slowly taking of his prothesis that needed cleaning as well. He revealed the healed limb to Jimin, his eyes following the other's closely. How would he react? It was weird, feeling vulnerable like this in front of someone he had practically just met.

But there was no disgust or repulsion in Jimin's eyes, instead there was understanding and sympathy. There was no pity, no anger, just acceptance. It calmed Yoongi's nerves. He breathed in slowly, holding it for a second before releasing it. The younger sat down next to him, holding his arm closer. It was hard to see with the lack of light but he would manage, he heard Jimin mumble.

After a few minutes the examination was finished, the 22-year-old smiling and looking up. "It's nothing serious, I think. The swelling will go down after a while, though I recommend you leave that thing where it is for now." The black-haired boy said, pointing at his prothesis, which was lying on the floor next to Yoongi's backpack. "Do you still have the cream I gave you earlier?"

He nodded, taking out the little container his companion gave him earlier. "I'm not sure if the acemetacin in it will help but usually it's used after operations and it's supposed to help with the pain. Usually it reduced swelling by a little bit. It's not the best way to treat your skin but it's something at least." He nodded again, following Jimin's words.

He didn't know what in the world he was talking about but he guessed it was just some kind of stuff made of healing plants, which he was fine with.

Taking more of the cream into his hands, Jimin asked for permission to touch Yoongis arm, which he agreed to. He slowly massaged it into the once smooth skin, careful to be as gentle as possible and avoiding any blisters that could get infected. "There. This should do. Just applied it as soon as you feel it burning again. It's gonna go away in a few days." The younger went off without another comment to the back of the shop, to clean his hands, Yoongi guessed, and he was left alone in front of the fire.

He just sat there in silence for a while, not believing what just happened. The black-haired boy's touch had been so- tender. It was a while since someone had touched him at all and he almost forgot what kind of feeling it was. It sent a shiver down his spine, not sure if he liked it or not but it was definitely a new feeling. But he had given his permission without hesitation.

Why?

Before he could come up with an answer, Jimin was already back, drying his hands off on his shirt. "It's getting late and I'm not sure when I will get to sleep again so, uhm, good night hyung." The other stated awkwardly, lying down on his blanket and curling up to get rid of the cold. His back was turned to Yoongi, who was staring at him from his position on the floor. "Yeah, good night."

He sat there for a bit more, taking more sips from his alcohol, which he had almost finished by then, the liquid burning his throat in a pleasant matter. He wondered if it was the alcohol speaking to him but from this perspective the other boy almost looked cute. Legs and arms curled into his chest, head lying on the backpack, hair falling down like flowing water.

Cute? What the hell was he thinking?

His expression changed and he almost laughed at himself. Yep, definitely the alcohol. Min Yoongi would never think something like this, let alone say it out loud. He took a few more swings, his vision slowly going cloudy. He stood up and went to the bathroom and when he looked into the mirror there he knew he was tipsy. Yep. No way he would think that the guy was cute. Yoongi was into guys, men. But this boy was way too soft and he had only known him for a few days, for god's sake.

That's when he went back to the fire, lying down as well and he fell asleep, his face turned towards his little companion, smiling a bit when he saw him shuffling in his sleep, little noises escaping him.

Yoongi dreamt of a better world that day.

.

.

.

When he woke up he didn't feel the usual burning sensation in his arm like he used to. What he did feel, however, was the throbbing pain in his skull, the alcohol having taken its effect in the night. The older sat up with a groan, rubbing his head, his thoughts spinning in the process.

He didn't see his little companion, though. The fire had burnt down to ashes, only leaving a small trace of black behind. Jimin's clothes, backpack and blanket still seemed to be there, so Yoongi assumed he must have still been nearby. He got up slowly, grabbing a new shirt and heading towards the bathroom. When he opened the door, he was met with a shirtless Park Jimin.

"Uh, sorry." He said awkwardly, shutting the door quickly and taking a few steps back. Well, that went well, Yoongi thought. His morning was already stressful now. He checked the time: 9:54 am. He hadn't slept this long in a while. It felt good to be energized but here he was, acting like a complete idiot and walking in on his new friend.

How embarrassing. Yoongi couldn't keep the blood from shooting to his cheeks.

Jimin came out of the door a few minutes later, clothes on this time. "Sorry, hyung. I won't take long next time." Jimin apologized, blush on his cheeks. "It's fine." The other replied in a hushed voice, going into the bathroom himself and closing the door behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror. "No. Nooo." He rubbed his hands against his face, cringing at the interaction.

He then proceeded to wash himself and get changed. He observed the dirty sink and mirror, wiping some of the dirt off with a piece of cloth. When he came back, Jimin was already preparing food for them. He spotted some fruit, out of a can, of course, something like dried flakes or oats and protein bars.

"Are you sure those are still edible?" He asked, throwing the shirt he had worn away. He won't need it anytime soon, he decided. It was splattered with blood and dirt anyway and the material wasn't that durable.

"I checked the expiration date. Should be fine." Jimin answered, putting some of the food on plates he probably found in the kitchen. Yoongi sat down next to him, reaching for something to drink and grabbing some chopsticks as well. Lucky for them there was always some kind of dried or pre-prepared food in Korean supermarkets. Good for traveling and fast consumption. He reminded himself to stuff more of it into his backpack later. He didn't know when he would get to another place with food and supplies, let alone one that was safe.

The fruit tasted good on his tongue, the sweetness something he wasn't used to anymore, hasn't been used to in years. It was rare to get fruit between his teeth and while he usually didn't fancy sweet things, he enjoyed it immensely. Jimin seemed to be happy about their meal as well, content smile on his face while they ate.

This was nice, Yoongi thought. Unusual, but nice.

Sharing meals this way was something so familiar but at the same time something so foreign to him and it made him a bit emotional, thinking about the last time he had shared a proper meal with someone. He also noticed how Jimin's cheeks seemed to puff out while he was eating, making them look even chubbier than before. It was funny.

Yoongi chuckled, holding his hand in front of his mouth, coughing a bit. "What?" Jimin asked, mouth still filled with food and it only made him laugh harder. "Hyung! Are you making fun of me?" the younger pouted. "You look like a hamster." He commented. The 22-year-old blushed at that, his tone defensive. "I do not! And stop watching me while I eat. It's rude, you know!" he mumbled, his tone grumpy.

The older decided that it was enough teasing for now and he continued to eat his food.

When they were done they placed the plates back into the kitchen, which, he thought, didn't have a point because, who would visit this place anyway? But Jimin insisted they at least put them back in case someone needed them. Fucking ridiculous, the older mumbled to himself, but helped him nonetheless.

While his friend collected more food, water and medicine to take with them, Yoongi managed to find something to clean his prothesis with. It was weird to have it disconnected and having to scrub it down with only one hand made it difficult. So, when his companion came back, he insisted to help him with the cleaning process. Mumbling his thanks, he gave the piece of metal to the younger, watching as he cleaned the inside as well as the outside, making it look almost new. He then helped him to put it back on, applying more of the cream before and then connecting it back to his arm.

This part was always uncomfortable and painful for Yoongi, which was why he never bothered to take it off in the first place. It was also inconvenient when there was still danger around. He needed both his arms then.

When the metal finally clicked with his arm, the pain sending a small yelp out of his mouth, they were ready to go. His friend looked at him with sympathy but moved on quickly when he told him to get his things packed or else he would go without him.

Around 2 pm they first made their way to the roof. They had found a small opening on the side of the supermarket, latter placed on the wall and both of them climbed up silently. Yoongi opened the small opening first, looking around and checking if there were any creatures lurking on the roof. When he decided It was safe, both of them made their way up, spreading into two directions to check where to go next. Clouds were spread across the sky, their gray tones hiding the world for the sun. It would rain later, Yoongi noticed. The wind was cold, but refreshing and it was warm enough for them. They had to go now.

"Seems to be all clear here. I just see a few of them over there on the north side." Jimin stated, his finger pointing towards a series of buildings where some of the zombies could be seen, walking in their typically lazy fashion and sniffing the air for blood and flesh. They weren't close, but they weren't too far away, either. Too dangerous, he thought.

"They are going to come after us when we start running. We can't have that. Those things are fucking fast when they want to be." Sometimes they reminded Yoongi of himself, not just because of the looks but because of their behavior as well, then again, he wouldn't dare to kill someone to eat them.

"Alright, I'll keep looking." He nodded at that, observing on his side as well. There seemed to be a pretty big opening to his left, he could see some shops over there, and he didn't know if it was too risky. "We could go over there. But I'm sure there's some of them in the buildings as well."

They had to make a decision now.

Fuck, Yoongi growled. This wasn't good. They couldn't stay here forever. He had to meet the others and they had probably already been waiting for a long fucking time, considering that Yoongi had been on his way for years, now.

"Okay we are going north." He decided, Jimin's eyes widening at his answer. "But didn't you say it was too dangerous?" "They may be fast but if we go this way they are going to attack us from the buildings and there is no space for us to run there. They would bite us in no time. And honestly, I'm not too fond of cutting my other arm off as well." Yoongi stated, looking at the other with his eyebrow raised.

Jimin hung his shoulders, looking around for a second. They didn't have any other options. "Okay. Let's do that." He agreed. Okay. This was happening now.

"You still got your gun?" He asked, the other nodding, taking it out of his pocket. "Loaded?" When the younger nodded again, Yoongi made his way back down into the supermarket, the 22-year-old following close behind him, weapon in hand. Yoongi took out his weapons as well, a long knife and a revolver stuck in his belt.

He was ready but he wasn't sure if Jimin was.

Slowly and silently they make their way towards the front door, opening it slightly, Yoongi walks out first, knife in his right hand, looking around quickly and making sure they were off to a good start. Jimin's breathing was in his ear, his own heartbeat running along with it. They have to be fast now.

That's when he bolts, running towards a set of bushes first and lying down, the other following close behind, breathing heavy. The smell of rotten corpses was filling his nose.

Baby steps.

Nothing moves, so they go further. Crossing a few trees and traffic lights, Yoongi turns around, checking if there are any of the creatures lurking around. He spots some, all of them turned around, not seeming to notice them. They walk a little more, quiet but fast, rushing to get to the other side of the block. They then hide behind a wall next to a bakery, the stone hot and rough. Jimin's breathing is still clouding his mind, making him nervous. He has to be calm now.

He feels tiny hands clutching the sleeves of his jacket.

No room for thoughts now, he reminds himself and walks some more. They have to take action.

He hears Jimin gasp as he observes how one of the zombies walks close to them, it's head turning around in a sick fashion, movements rapid and uncontrolled. Yoongi grabs Jimin's arm, stopping him from making any more noise. They move a few feet away, their steps controlled but shaky.

They wait and fuck this was nerve wrecking because what if one of them actually attacked them.

But the creature doesn't and makes it's way towards a series of different buildings.

He releases the breath he didn't know he was holding and takes Jimin's hand, tugging him with him, moving fast towards the next building. He hears cracking then and stops.

Please no.

Not now. They were so close.

He turns around slowly, hearing Jimin's silent whimpering. He could only imagine the boy crying.

The thing is so close to them, Yoongi has to stop himself from shouting. It could have only been a few inches. The creatures were blind but their hearing and smelling senses were incredible and he has to think now. _Fast_.

Collecting some rocks off the floor, Yoongi takes the risk and throws it, as far as it would go, into the other direction.

He hears the shuffling of feet and hears the cracking sound again, but it becomes more distant as the thing makes it's way to the place Yoongi had thrown the rock. Sighing in relief, Yoongi ran, Jimin right behind him, turning at the corner and running as far as they would go.

Cracking.

He hears Jimin sob then and he slows down abruptly, tugging the boy with him behind a series of trash cans, the smell of rotten food and plastic filling his nose. He puts his hand over Jimin's mouth, holding him close to his chest. The boy is breathing harshly through his nose, but he is trying to be silent. His own pulse is blasting in his ears, adrenaline running through his body and making him dizzy. He hears them running towards them. And then they are gone.

Thank fuck, Yoongi thinks, his eyes closing.

He got up quickly, grabbing Jimin's arm and helping him to get up. He slips, though and falls back down to the ground, his small hands touching something wet. He hears Jimin gag as he looks at the blood on his palms but Yoongi doesn't have time for this, they don't have time for this. He forces Jimin back to his feet and he walks fast, they were almost there.

Almost there.

Almost there. Yoongi looks behind him.

.

.

.

And that's when he sees how one of the creatures grabs Jimin's leg.


	3. Chapter 3 Ruger Vaquero

„Shoot, fucking shoot, you idiot! "He yells, feeling his skin explode with adrenaline. He watches as the black-haired boy squirms on the floor, trying to fire but seems to be too shocked to do so. His tiny hands tremble around the trigger, the pressure not enough to move the piece. The older man curses.

Bang!

Blood is flying through the air, some of it smacking him in the face and Yoongi loses the last of the six bullets he once had.

Next thing he knows, the thing is getting back up again and the white-haired man attacks him then, sending him flying back with a hard kick in the ribs, a groan escaping the creature's mouth, running after it and slamming on his skull with the back of his knife, smashing holes into the rotten skull of the zombie, it's cracking and moaning sounds growing louder. Finally, the thing goes limb and stays down. The 26-year-old watches as more rotten blood seeps out onto the floor, coloring its once dark grey surface a dark red.

He wipes the blood off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. It is already ruined.

Grabbing Jimin by his arm and hurling him up, he runs towards the next building he sees, but the doors are locked with heavy pieces of metal. God fucking-

"Hyung." He hears the boy say but ignores it immediately. They have to get out of here. He looks back, on the watch for more zombies but when he sees and hears none he just runs, revolver in his other hand, which is now basically useless. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. This isn't going well.

"Hyung!" his friend yells again, louder this time and Yoongi has to tell him to shut the hell up because they are still in the dangerous zone and this isn't helping their situation at all. "For fuck's sake Jimin, just move your damn legs." He hisses and continues. He doesn't care that he's dragging the other behind him, he doesn't care that the boy is hurt, they don't have time for this. Not now.

Finally, he sees the building he had been wanting to go to. Thank god.

"Almost there." He gasps, not knowing if he was talking to his companion or himself. Jimin doesn't say anything.

When they arrive, he runs in first, the other man close behind him and he shuts the door quickly, locking it from the inside as best he can.

Both of the gasp heavily, hands on their knees and sweat running down their skin. "Are you okay?" Yoongi asks, tone concerned but steady. "I-I'm not sure." The other replies shakily, his pupils blown wide and mouth open. The older man comes closer, watching as the younger sits down onto one of the chairs.

They were in an older building now, the walls slightly dirty and broken, graffiti on most them. There wasn't much here, some tables and chairs, a few broken objects like cups and vases, some old pictures and decorations hanging on the wall. Some of the doors were taken out of their frames. The smell of dust was potent and it itched his nose.

He started to observe Jimin's leg. Some scratches seemed to be visible, but he couldn't detect any bites or infections. He released a sigh. They were in luck.

"Seems to be okay but you're the doctor here." He states, taking off his jacket and throwing it somewhere else. The boy didn't reply and didn't even after a few minutes. That's when he turned around and saw that the boy hadn't moves an inch, his shoulders still drooping and his eyes downcast. He came closer.

"Hey, you alright there?" He asks, voice gentle as he puts a hand on the other boy's shoulders. He felt him crying more than he saw it, shoulders shaking and sharp gasps escaping his mouth. Jimin seemed to be in shock.

He was crying, of course he was crying.

He watched how fat tears rolled down the younger's face, his eyes red and swollen, hands gripping his shirt tightly. "It's fine. We are safe here, for now. The thing didn't even bite you." Yoongi tries, but Jimin only cried harder, sobs wrecking his body. "I was s-so scare-ed. I thought it would kill m-me."

He felt his chest tighten at the sight as he pat the boy's head. "It's gonna be fine." He told him and meant it. Low whines kept on escaping through Jimin's mouth and the 26-year-old didn't have the heart to tell him to shut up and he had looked so small in that moment.

One day he would have to learn, though. He had been through it as well, endless days of suffering but they were worth it in the end, they had hardened him and his feelings.

"Look, I know you don't want to go out there again, but we have to move on from here. We can't stay." He stated. "I know a place we can go to." He reassured. Letting the boy have his moment, Yoongi took out his maps and checked. He was right. They were in Gwanyang-Dong. Pretty close to Seoul but the still had a long way to go. "Look, there's a school somewhere around here, Gwanyang High School. We can go there." He said, voice hopeful.

But the younger just shook his head, his hands covering his ears.

"I don't want to go." He cried, dragging the words out.

It hurt him to see the younger man like this, feeling a sense of pity in his chest. But this was some bullshit he didn't need to deal with. This was one of the reason he had traveled alone all this time.

"Look, Jimin. If we stay here we are going to fucking die, okay? There's no need to lie about it, they are going to come to this place and break through the door. Especially at night it's dangerous for us, we can't see them but they can smell us and that's just not a good way to go about it." The boy just shook harder in fear. "But, the school has got some kind of security system, I'm sure. Or at least some space where we can defend ourselves, alright? It's important for us to move constantly." The white-haired man tried again but the other didn't seem to listen and once again, he had to make a decision, one that wasn't so easy this time.

"I'm going to leave without you if you want to stay. I don't want to die when I have other options."

Some minutes in silence passed, Yoongi only looking at the other. "No. You can't go hyung." The black-haired boy mumbles, wiping his nose with his sleeve. "Yes, I can and I will." he returned, his tone harsher now. He had to get the message across. They couldn't stay here for the night, either. "We have to leave now, Jimin. Clean your scratches and get your things."

He checked the time: 4:23 pm. They had to get to that school before sunset. It was hard to see the creatures in the dark.

When his friend didn't make a move, Yoongi pulled the fabric of Jimin's pants up himself, taking out some cloth and water and cleaning the small wounds quickly. He dabbed at the red liquid, which had pooled there, soft skin in contrast to the ragged edges of the wound. He cringed when the younger man made a soft hissing noise, signalizing his pain.

Afterwards he stands up, looking at him and raising an eyebrow in question.

"Hyung."

"What?"

"I don't want to go. I'm terrified." He whispers.

And Yoongi understands. He had never understood a feeling more than this one.

"I know. Me too." He mumbles back and gets his bag.

"Is it far?" He hears a quiet voice say. "It's a few streets down but I think we can make it." He answered honestly.

"I'll look out for you. I promise." he didn't know if Jimin could feel the sincerity behind it, but he hoped he would.

"Hyung, are you sure?"

"Yes."

What the hell was he doing?

"Okay."

And that's when he took the hint to leave. There shouldn't be room for other thoughts now.

And so, they made their way outside, checking all sides for any movements and then quietly walking towards the next street. Yoongi observed how some of the fences were painted in different color, red, blue and yellow and he wondered if this had been some kind of place for children in the past. Walking a bit farther, he noticed that he was right. It was an elementary school.

However, when he saw several corpses of children and adults, he wished they had taken a different route. He tugged at Jimin's hand, leading him towards the other side of the street, further away from the school entrance. "Don't look." He said, tone hushed and in the corner of his eye, he saw the boy nodding.

Right then it started raining and he cursed at everything because, right now it decided to rain when they were trying to make their way towards their next stop.

They made their way to the end of the street, trees coming into their sight. He checked for more danger, open spaces like these could be unpredictable. He took out his knife, Jimin on his other side and they turned right. He saw a lot of cars and busses on the sides of the street. This wasn't good. That meant a lot of people had been in this area, which also meant that there were probably more of the flesh-eating things here as well.

He was right again, as he spotted some creatures, maybe three or four, standing close to what seemed to be a dorm building of sorts. Now Yoongi was grateful for the rain, since it was loud and masked the sound of their steps a little bit. They quietly sneaked their way past them and he was grateful that the floor was smooth and didn't have much rubble on it, making it easy for them to move silently.

They walked towards the school entrance finally and he looked at the welcome sign that said "Go for a brighter future."

He wasn't sure if this was really a safe place for them, but it was secluded and calm from what he had heard over his radio, people claiming to have been there before and it seemed to be a good place to stay for a few days. Jimin didn't seem so sure, then again, the boy was scared and just wanted to stay alive, which was a thing he wanted as well.

"Let's go inside." Yoongi announced, gripping Jimin's wrist and dragging him though the entrance towards the first building. The school seemed to have open spaces and a series of buildings they could hide in. They had to check first, though, otherwise this place would be useless to them. It was then that the 2-year-old heard more cracking noises and he was disappointed to see that there was no way to close the gates, which would make the place less safe for them.

Nevertheless, they had to hide now before they got spotted and so they went inside, Yoongi checking for more danger and quietly walking through the hallways. The only noise that could be heard were their footsteps and the water that dripped down from their clothes. The rain outside really made the halls look like a scene out of a horror movie and he remembered, that he was more or less in one himself.

He felt small hands clutching his backpack and he decided that checking every building first was more important than drying themselves. "We have to look at everything first. I don't want any surprises here." The black-haired boy nodded in returned but he could see the goosebumps on his skin anyway and the trembling of his hands was quite obvious.

There were two more buildings for them to explore. Every one of them had two floors and they stumbled upon several zombies and corpses, Yoongi destroying each of them with his knife.

"Hyung, I hate it here." he could hear Jimin whine. "I know it's not the best thing ever but we will get used to it." The other whispered in return.

.

.

.

They found a good spot in one of the higher buildings of the school.

The walls were grey, most tables and chairs thrown to the side, writings still on the board. It wasn't necessarily the best place to sleep but they could see most of the school from the windows and he decided it was safer this way.

He also noticed, that once Jimin was somewhat comfortable, he was quite talkative and started asking Yoongi questions about his Half-zombie life.

"Hyung do you feel pain?"

"Do you even have blood? Where does it go? Your heart isn't pumping, is it?"

"Does it mean you're dead?"

"Do you get hungry - no wait I know that already."

"I just realized, those questions are kinda dumb, I mean there's the whole prothesis thing and-"

"Jimin."

"Yes?"

"Shut the fuck up."

And then didn't ask another question again. Yoongi chuckled at how the younger pouted but he was too tired to answer all of his questions now. He was more interested in Jimin's past now, though.

"What did you do before you found me?" he asked, voice calm and steady. They were both lying on the floor, most of their clothes drying on the other side of the room, hung over some chairs.

"What do you mean, hyung?"

"Like, what did you do?"

Jimin chuckled "I told you, I'm a doctor." he grinned.

"No, not that. Like where were you? Where are you from and why are you in this area? Yoongi asked, turning around and looking at Jimin. He needed to know.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not completely sure. I am from Busan and I was there when everything started happening." The younger man played with his fingers again.

The white-haired man nodded. "I remember leaving the city with some of my family members but after that it's just snippets of memories. Like - like I was on the road in a car. It was a truck and then I saw mountains but the next thing I know is that I woke up in this building." The 22-year-old furrowed his brows, staring at his hands in confusion.

"Wait so you don't know what happened in between?" Yoongi asked. This was insane. The whole thing started years ago and Jimin didn't remember most of it? How?

"Yeah, it seems that I have some kind of amnesia, that's what the symptoms tell me, anyway. It's hard to tell without having another doctor there to help me out with this but yeah. Anyway, the next thing I did was ran out the building and I saw those creatures and dead people and I just ran. Until I found that tree you were on. And I thought you could help me remember. Or, you know, defend me or whatever." Jimin finished, his voice getting more insecure at the end of his speech. "You scared me a little, though. You looked just like them." The other chuckled a little, trying to lift the mood.

He ignored his last comment. "Jimin, that's fucking insane. That's like three years of your life that you don't remember. " Yoongi said, voice loud but he noted how the other man's eyes started to glisten with tears and he kicked himself mentally for not being more tactful. This was all just hard to believe but then again it was more logical than Yoongi only being half transformed.

"I know. I'm not sure if I should wish for my memories to come back or not." The other mentioned with a sad tone in his voice.

This was the first time the older had seen the younger behave like this. He usually seemed to young and innocent but in this moment Yoongi knew there was something going on inside this man and he seemed way more mature than before.

"I'm sure they will come back in time." He assured the other. Damn this was heavy stuff. "You aren't hurt, though, right? I mean you were in that building for a long time probably."

Jimin thought about it for a moment but shook his head. "No, I don't think that much happened there. Don't have any bruises or something like that, either. I feel normal." He murmured, looking no quite convinced himself.

Yoongi waited for a bit, thinking about what could have happened to his friend but came up with nothing.

"I guess we just have to wait then." The older man states, lying down on the floor fully now.

"We?" he hears the other ask. We? Hm. He wasn't sure but he'd like that. Probably.

"Yeah. We." He answered, smiling a little at the shy grin the other shot him a second later.

They didn't say anything after that, just lying down and dozing off for a bit.

.

.

.

The time on Yoongi's device read 3:23 am when he woke up. His pants were somewhat crinkled and uncomfortably swung around his legs. His prothesis was lying on the floor next to him, his skin resting from having the material attached to it the while day. He felt sweaty and sticky, groaning a bit as he sat up. He really needed a shower. The older man looked at his companion on the other side and saw him fast asleep, breathing even and chest rising with it in time.  
He really needed some air.

He put on his now dry shirt and grabbed his knife, slipping it into one of his boots like he had done before and walked up to the stairs which led to the roof of the building. He remembered the doors he passed, each of them marked with a number for kids to recognize it. Yoongi barely remembered his time in high school, most of it was spent fighting with people who bullied him and annoying the teachers. He did have some friends but most of the time was spent in a stressful blur.

He opened the door to the roof, looking around and stepping out into the now somewhat cool summer air. He could smell the humidity and heat from the day before and he could see the moths and mosquitos swirling around him and other parts of the building. It annoyed him to no end but the soothing air was worth it.

It was kind of sad sitting here, no one was around and it felt like Yoongi was on his own again. Not that it bothered him, of course not. He liked, no, he _loved_ being alone! However, he noticed how the feeling of loneliness, something he hadn't felt in the last few days, had returned. He knew Jimin was still there but not that he was here, by himself, it seemed to affect him more than he'd like to admit.

"Bullshit." Yoongi mumbled to no one in particular, kicking some rocks on the floor as he walked around on the roof. The stone was grey and somewhat dirty. Most of it was just dust and he could see some graffiti spayed on the walls. He could make out a few of them.

"Give up. All hope is lost."

"See you in hell, gentlemen."

"Don't trust anyone."

And of course, he saw some indecent graffiti as well, some dicks painted on the wall with red color or the occasional curse word spayed over top of it. Those always made him chuckle, but the other comments made his heart sink a bit. What if they were right and he was literally just doing this for nothing? Maybe his friends weren't even in Seoul right now, maybe they were all dead and he'd wait for them there forever.

There was the depressing feeling again. Honestly, Yoongi would have already killed himself if this wasn't for his friends. He just had to meet them. _He had to_. They were his family, his only hope.

It wasn't that he was mentally unstable. He did have some issues with anxiety in the past but the doctors had taken care of it. But could you really only think in a positive matter in a situation like this? Probably not.

"Fuck this, man. Seriously." He talked to himself again. It had become a habit after he left Daegu to make his way to Seoul. But now that Jimin was actually with him, he found it a bit silly.

After a while of walking around Yoongi sat on the edge of the building, his legs dangling over the edge. He looked at his boots.

He reflected on his journey until now, all the things he had experienced so far. Not many of them were pleasant, most of them were of him suffering, hurt, hungry, mad, lonely. Was there really anything he had been looking forward to? Anything he appreciated?

Not really, no.

Everyone was gone anyway. Most animals had died through diseases and the virus itself, so those weren't there, either. The world was destroyed, its greatest buildings having burned down in fires and chaos. He had seen it on tv and later in person. He didn't remember when he had last eaten his favorite food, had last seen someone he loved. He didn't remember what it felt like to have fun, real, genuine fun. Everything he had accomplished in his life so far, finishing school, making his mom proud, winning that music composing competition in 10th grade, it was all for nothing.

None of it mattered right now. He was living day by day. And a few people would have said "Hey! That guy lives like he knows he could die any second." And it was true. It was so horribly true that sometimes he didn't know what to do with himself. He was always attentive, always keeping his eyes open.

He was glad he was alive, yes, but was he really _living_?

Dying was easy, Yoongi knew that. But living was hard and painful and exhausting and many gave up before they even tried to make something out if it. Was he one of them now? Wasting his time in this place, with no reason to live?

He could jump now. It would kill him instantly once he hit the ground beneath. Would it matter?

 _Yes._

Yes, it would. Now it would matter because he had responsibilities. He wasn't on his own anymore.

He had Jimin and Jimin needed his help. He needed protection. And maybe, Yoongi needed him a little, too. They both shared the same fate.

How did he even get so attached to this person in the first place? They had only known each other for a few days, for god's sake. But somehow this was important to him. For some reason, he cared and he wanted to. He wanted to have someone with him, to laugh with him, to suffer with him. And Jimin seemed to give him just that. The older man began to wonder if this was going to become one of his new obsessions and laughed at his own ridiculously embarrassing thoughts.

Soon his eyes got tired and he decided to go back to sleep. He sneaked back down the stairs, locking the door behind him and made his way back to the room him and his friend shared.

The boy still seemed to be asleep so Yoongi just lay down again, turning onto his sight. He heard rustling noises.

"Hyung? You okay?" He heard the other mumble sleepily.

"Yeah, 'm fine." He answered, which seemed to be enough for the other, since Yoongi made out how his breathing evened out a bit afterwards. He really needed to get some sleep.

.

.

.

The next few days go on and nothing happens. No Zombies. No complications, nothing. They just ate the food they had packed from the supermarket, played cards and talked. It was nice, so nice. Yoongi finally began to enjoy himself, allowing the feeling to take over, to make him relax a bit. He had fun talking to Jimin, he seemed to understand where he was coming from, what he enjoyed, he even laughed at his horribly dark jokes even when he found them weird and disgusting. But it wasn't getting them anywhere.

And also, being with a person nonstop just had to go wrong at some point.

It started when his companion spilt a little of their last water stocks. It wasn't on purpose, Yoongi knew that. But after about a week of sitting in that building he was stressed, bored and on edge and it just pissed him off immensely.

"Stop fucking everything up." He had shouted harshly, forgetting about everything else. He had drunk some alcohol that day, a bottle of high-percentage liquid he had sneaked into his bag earlier that week, telling himself that it was just because of the stress and he had thrown the half bottle close to Jimin's feet, the glass shattering into pieces. The liquid leaked out of the rest of the glass, spilling and making a wet spot on the floor.

"Hyung, stop it! I'm sorry okay?" the 22-year old had shouted back at him, eyes wide and fists clenched. "Or what? Huh? How are you gonna stop me? You were crying just a few days ago when I had to safe you even though you had a fucking gun in your hand." Yoongi spat back at him, taking a few steps closer to him. Jimin just glared at him for a second, hurt crossed his face for a second but the other probably just imagined it, the alcohol blurring his view. "You're always so fucking pathetic. Hyung, hyung, I'm scared! I just have to help you. All. The. Damn. Time."

Yoongi chuckled a little but there was no humor in it. He continued to talk about Jimin's behavior, humiliating him and that seemed to be the breaking point for the short boy. He knew he was only saying this because of his own insecurities but he didn't care. The younger man walked a few steps closer to him. "If you hated it so much then why did you put up with it." He asked, tone serious.  
He knew exactly why he did it. But he didn't want to admit it. He couldn't. Not in front of Jimin himself.

"I don't know. You tell me." He had replied, finding a small amount of amusement in it. He was being unfair and a bit of a dick, Yoongi knew it in the back of his head but that didn't stop him.

"Maybe that's because you need me too, Min Yoongi." His friend (were they still friends?) had replied, his tone calm but seething. It wasn't often that Jimin used his name, his full name, in conversation but it surprised him whenever he did it.

He saw how the man took his belongings and moved out of the room without another word.

Yoongi froze. A feeling of dread spread inside his body.

He refused to go back to Jimin, though. His pride didn't allow him to and so here he was, at midnight, stomping around the halls and finding an old couch. He didn't even bother to take his boots off. He just threw himself on the couch, curling up a bit and closing his eyes. He tried to will the thoughts away. Jimin was fine. He was just in another room. He should worry about himself more.

Yoongi repeated the scene over and over in his head, occasionally hiding his face in the dirty pillows and sighing when he realized that none of this would help him in this situation. So, he decided to just sleep it off. His arm hurt from having his prothesis on for so long again and all he could think about, though, was Jimin, Jimin, _Jimin_. He let out a shout, punching the air and turning around on his side. Why wasn't he fucking sleeping. This had to stop.

Ridden with guilt and worry Yoongi fell asleep three hours later to the sound of the wind hitting the building's walls.


	4. Chapter 4 Ellipsism

A pained sigh left Yoongi's mouth when he pushed himself up from the cushions. He inhaled some of the dust that had traveled there over time and sneezed when too much of it got into his lungs. His back hurt and the pain that tugged at his muscles made it clear that he had been in a terrible position to sleep in. He could feel some of the sun breaking through the window and onto his skin, however, all he felt was cold and empty. He remembered the events of the last night, the words he had said and cringed at his own behavior.

He was such an idiot sometimes.

He stood up with a groan, ignoring his body's protests and went to the other room he had shared with Jimin. He attached his prothesis back into place slowly, soft noises of discomfort leaving him and he gathered some of the maps from his backpack. The smell of old paper filled his nose as he unwrapped them, the lines coming into his sight. Most of them were already ripped or had stains on them but they were still usable. The streets and borders looked like a web, connecting all the places with each other but the grumpy man knew it was all a lie now, since there weren't any living beings there that could be connected to each other.

He checked the distance from Gwanyang to Seoul and it was about 220 miles if he read the map correctly. By car it would take them about five hours, the 26-year-old guessed but he wasn't sure how he would get a car or if the streets were even empty enough for them to drive on them. He also had to take into account that there were probably hundreds of hungry creatures waiting for them outside, they were still in a once very populated area, and the older man frowned when he thought about all the dead bodies he would see on the way. He wondered if Jimin was ready to come with him. He sighed heavily, his back hunching and head hanging low. He was such an ass. He had to apologize at some point.

Through the many times he had woken up that night, he had a debate with himself.

Apologize or don't. He had decided that, yes, he could do whatever he wanted and yes, he wasn't obligated to take Jimin with him, however, they were friends now to some extend and it had definitely been a shit move on his side. Then again, he wasn't good at interacting with other humans and anxiety made his heart beat faster. He wondered if the younger man would even accept his apology. He wouldn't know what to do if he didn't.

With a heavy heart, he stood up again, fixing his clothes, determined to find the other man in the building.

At first Yoongi had thought the boy had left or something, he hadn't found him anywhere and panic made itself known in his brain, illustrating all kinds of scenarios of what might have happened to the otherwise cheerful boy. Images of a dead body filled his head, limbs cut off or even worse, another one of those creatures but with Jimin's façade. But then he saw the other sitting at a window in one of the last rooms of the building on the second floor and he released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

His hair reflected a lighter brown color and his back was straight as he watched the clouds outside the building. He stepped a bit closer, quietly and timidly. Don't back out now, Yoongi told himself firmly and got closer to the other boy, who didn't turn around, despite probably having heard the older man enter. "What do you want, Yoongi?" he had asked, voice flat and annoyed, still not looking at him.

He wasn't used to this tone of Jimin's voice. It was a lot deeper than usual and it was cold, things that didn't suit the other boy at all. It terrified him, in a way. The white-haired man decided that he never wanted the younger man's voice to sound like that again, so he gathered all the courage he had in himself and apologized to him.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I was an absolute ass and I know I can be harsh when I'm tired and I know it's dumb of me to expect you to forgive me but yeah." He rambled on. He hoped his message would come across. He wanted to be sincere.

It surprised the pessimistic man how much he wanted this to work out.

"Fuck, I'm not good at this kinda stuff but I hope you understand what I'm trying to do here." He tried again, coming a bit closer to the black-haired boy, who had turned his head slightly towards him.

For a while there was just silence in the room, and he wondered if he had fucked up for real this time.

"You know I'm not that weak, right?" He heard his friends say, his voice loud and firm. "I know I cried a lot and it was hard for me to defend myself, but isn't that natural? I mean there were dead people everywhere, for fuck's sake. They had been someone's family once before all this shit started. Everyone is dead and I don't remember any of it, I told you and you still think you're better than me? What, because you endured this longer than me, apparently?" Yoongi hated how swears sounded in the boy's mouth, the words foreign and just so inappropriate for an innocent person like Jimin. The older boy didn't comment, however, and listened.

"Do you think this is some kind of competition of who suffered more and who's stronger? Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe you're not alone in this anymore and that you actually have to take responsibility for the shit you say to other people? Just because I'm only someone you have met a short while ago, doesn't mean that you have to be so damn rude." Yoongi hung his head as Jimin's voice grew louder and louder, his body turning towards him fully now, his arms making angry gestures.

"You know what's pathetic, Yoongi? The fact that you think you can treat people like that and get away with it."

He felt a sharp pang in his chest, the air knocked out of him all of a sudden. This wasn't going well for him.

But he didn't have the answers to those questions and it didn't matter because it still hurt and Yoongi wanted to find a way to make it better.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say in return, other words would have been unnecessary, he knew.

"I'm tired of being laughed at, please don't fool me."

Jimin didn't seem to let it go after that and just stormed out of the room, fists clenched. The white-haired man was left there, head hanging low again and he looked down at his hands. He felt sudden anger rise in him, not towards the 22-year-old or anything else, but towards himself. He knew Jimin's words had a deeper meaning, something Yoongi wasn't in a position to hear yet, but he knew he had fucked up. A lot. He didn't know what else to do, besides apologize to him many more times.

Why couldn't he get his emotions under control? Why did they always have to ruin everything he had?

He crouched down and hit the concrete floor with his arm, scratches appearing on the knuckles of his prothesis. It pissed him off even more. It just reminded him of all the flaws he had. He counted every scratch or dent he found in the stupid thing, reminders of what his actions had looked like in the past, all the fighting and anger.

He reminded himself that it was probably for the best to leave Jimin alone for some more time before they traveled further. Yoongi admit to himself that, maybe, he did want the younger boy to come with him and that he didn't have to go alone again.

He knew his head would be filled with thoughts of Jimin, of him getting eaten or attacked, of him turning into one of them with white hair and scary eyes, all the softness gone that had existed in them before. He didn't want that, no, he needed him to come with him. All he could hope now was that the younger would think about his intentions and his apology.

Yoongi stared out of the window. The sky was clear again, had been all week almost and he hated how the weather didn't reflect his mood at all. Usually he was good at being by himself but he felt oddly anxious and lonely in this situation, not quite sure what to do with himself. He did things when he was alone, he sharpened his knife, wrote, drew pictures, repaired things and he of course slept a lot. But all of these things seemed useless and unnecessary to him now, the reason why he did them forgotten.

He moved back a few rooms where he found his belongings and took out the last bottle of liquor he had taken (stolen) from the supermarket and opened the bottle with a snapping sound.

He had gotten used to this sound, hearing it every week and for some time he had heard it every day, the rest of it a blur of memories and hangovers. He knew it was a problem but it was the only thing that made him feel better, made him forget about the suffering he had to endure. And who would take this pleasure from him? Definitely not Yoongi himself. He was too weak for that, he knew. The sun threw soft shadows on the ground, his silhouette getting caught on the concrete floor. It didn't look the same anymore. He didn't know what kind of alcohol it was until he took a sip. Ah, it was good old Korean soju. He had despised the taste before but now it was a familiar scent and favor that reminded him of the times his friends had forced him to drink it on weekends.

The older man sighed heavily and took another swing, some of the liquid traveling down the corner of his mouth, hitting his shirt and forming a dark spot.

.

.

.

"Fuck this. I'm leaving soon." He told himself, voice starting to slur a bit. He didn't remember how many sips he had had. Maybe it was more than he had anticipated because he didn't feel like standing up again. How many hours had it been since he had talked to Jimin? Surely it must have been enough time for the younger man to forgive him, right?

Yoongi hoped so.

He wondered what the other man was doing right now. Maybe he was taking a bath, maybe he was eating or maybe he was just staring at a wall, like Yoongi did right now. However, the other boy wasn't drunk, he was sure and he laughed to himself. That kid was too innocent for his own good.

Suddenly all the thoughts from the week before came rushing back to him. The things he had told himself when he was on the roof, his body close to death. He didn't know what triggered it, maybe it was the memory of Jimin, his personality so different from his own, so different from the thoughts he was having now. Or maybe it was just the uncomfortable, dirty feeling of having alcohol in his system.

Yoongi thought a bit more about his situation and assured himself that even if Jimin didn't forgive him, he had to move on. It may hurt. Okay, maybe it would hurt a lot. He had do leave anyway, Otherwise he would just be stuck in this dumb place for god knows how long and that really wasn't the point of him staying here. He had somewhere to be, after all.

He sighed again. He couldn't keep doing this. The 22-year-old and him had only known each other for like two weeks and this was already messing up his life so much.

A few hours passed again and Yoongi had stayed in that room for just as long. He had finished the bottle of alcohol by now, its remains lying around on the floor somewhere forgotten and he had moved over to one corner of the room, his head leaning on the floor, tired eyes staring out the window and into the cloudless sky. Over the last few minutes he had debated with himself wether the sky was always that blue or if it had different colors at all and if colors were even real since not everyone could see them. These were normal thoughts for him, at least when he was drunk.

Yoongi wondered how his friends were, hoped they had a good time, having fun, surviving, falling in love, finding a new reason to live. He hoped that they were off better than him, not stuck with an idiot who didn't want to forgive him for his stupid mouth.

The grumpy man shifted his legs a bit, hugging his knees to his chest. "Why am I like this?" Yoongi asked himself and felt hot liquid burn in his eyes. He wouldn't cry. He hadn't cried in years. Not when he was hurt, not when he had been attacked, not when he had lost everything.

Nevertheless, the liquid seemed to leak out and onto his shirt and pants, resistance forgotten as he sobbed quietly. He was so tired and disappointed in himself.

He didn't know what he could do to cheer himself up so instead he thought of things he could call Jimin and he came up with quite a few things.

Idiot, Crybaby and Doctor Fluffy Hair were only a few things he came up with, his brain working slow with all the alcohol in his body but Yoongi took a liking to this tiny game and continued. "Mochi." He chuckled to himself. The comparison really was accurate. Jimin's cheeks did look a bit like sakura mochi and the older didn't seem to be too embarrassed to admit it to himself.

He continued.

"Bubblegum, Snickers, Honey Butt." The older man started laughing. "What the fuck." He giggled to himself and threw himself to the side. No, these didn't really suit the other man. Well, maybe one of them did.

He just looks like a puppy, Yoongi finally thought, the image too perfect in his head. Then he stopped thinking about it and decided that, yes, maybe this was a little weird and he had just been crying so why in the fuck was he thinking all this cutesy bullshit about his friend? And why was he making all these weird pet names for someone he had just known for like two week and that guy was mad at him and probably thought this was fucking creepy.

Once again, he blamed the alcohol and remained in silence with himself.

.

.

.

The next day he decided it was time to go. It was 5 pm.

He hadn't heard anything from the other man, not seeing him once the whole three days they had barely talked and he figured he wouldn't want to come with him, anyway. So now he packed his things, grabbing some food he found lying around the school cafeteria, killing a few zombies on the way, which was easier than expected since they seemed to have been starving for a while, their bodies looking way thinner than usual.

He would need a car, he reminded himself. It was quite difficult for him to find oene in this area, most of the batteries or fuel of cars wouldn't be able to be used anymore and Yoongi had to find a vehicle that was safe from environmental damage and at best somewhat useable. He found one in a garage near the school building, he had climbed over various walls and fences. He opened up the hood of the car, taking out all the equipment he had. He would have to find some other kind of vehicle soon, a tractor maybe, because this car wouldn't last long.

When the older man finally managed to start the car, he sat in it alone, driving towards the front of the school, risking one last glance towards it.

He really was stressed right now, should he leave or not? He had announced earlier that he would leave and he didn't get an answer so what was he gonna do now? Yoongi swore and held his head in his hance, the beating of his heart getting faster now, the feeling of anxiety nothing new to him.

His train of thought didn't get very far, though, when he spotted a small man with black hair sprint towards his car. He turned around to look at the street in front of him, hands on the stirring wheel. He felt his mouth open slightly when he heard the door of the passengers' seat open.

Neither of them said anything and Yoongi didn't need to look at the other right now. So, he just started the car and drove through the city to the next highway he could find to hopefully find his way to Seoul.

It wasn't easy to get through some of the tight passages on the streets of Gwangyan. There was a lot of rubble and other cars scattered all over the floor, making it hard for them to move forward faster. They had to take turns ever other time and it was difficult to see some of the creatures that were coming near their car, their bodies suddenly appearing with every corner Yoongi drove past. It seemed to shock the man next to him but he didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if Jimin was still mad at him and he didn't want to risk starting another argument.

About an hour later, when they were finally on a calmer, more clean part of the highway, Jimin said something for the first time that day.

"Are we there yet?"

Yoongi didn't know if he should answer or not.

"Get out."

The younger boy's head whipped around so fast Yoongi thought he might have hurt himself.

"We are going 85 miles an hour down the highway in the middle of nowhere, hyung."

"Did I stutter?" he had replied, voice flat.

That was when both of them burst out laughing, their whole body shaking with the intensity of it and He was grateful that there was no one else on the highway with him because would have definitely caused a big traffic jam at this point. It felt good, so good. Jimin's laugh was light and goofy, something the 26-year-old didn't expect to hear at all after their last conversation. It took a big burden off his chest.

"Sorry." Yoongi mumbled and Jimin answered "It's alright." And he didn't know if the black-haired boy just meant his laughter, or everything else but It made him feel more content.

After that things seemed to be okay and Yoongi was so grateful for it he thought he might cry again. Once again, he was puzzled as to why he was so affected by this, when he was reminded that, yes, this might have been what friendship felt like. "I'm not good with feelings, Jimin." He had explained randomly, voice thick with embarrassment maybe or shame, he didn't know but Jimin just smiled in return, not saying anything and maybe that meant that it was okay.

They spent the last two hours talking as usual again, falling into their old patterns fairly quickly, making jokes about everything basically, telling each other stories of their childhood and school days. It was everything he had ever wished for.

He constantly reminded himself that this was fine, they were fine. He had apologized and Jimin had forgiven him so he mumbled "Bring happy is not a sin." in his head for the next few hours, the anxiety making him think other ways. Jimin made him forget most of his thoughts, though and asked him more questions.

"Hyung?"

"Hmm?"

"You lied to me about being bulletproof, right?"

Yoongi smirked a little. He knew this would come up eventually.

"Yeah, about that…"

He started to laugh and the younger man looked at him in fake shock.

"Oh my god. I can't believe you lied to me, an innocent child who just needed some help. And you even threatened me with your knife!" he heard Jimin's sweet voice call loudly.

All he could do was chuckle in amusement. "You should have seen your face." But when he remembered how this conversation had gone in the past, he quickly changed the topic. "Uh, sorry. But, uhm, yeah, I'm not bulletproof, unfortunately. I get hurt just like any other human does." He explained, eyes back on the road.

After a few minutes of silence Jimin spoke again, his voice soft and careful: "What did it feel like when the zombie bit you?"

It was a question Yoongi had anticipated to hear, the words hanging around in the air heavily now. "It burned a lot, like, ugh I don't fucking know how to describe it. It's like getting burned? But at the same time, I was freaking out because I could see the venom or virus or whatever flooding up my arm. It was weird." He explained, trying to put the sensation into words. Jimin looked at him with big eyes, his hands on his thighs. "When I stopped the process I just felt… empty. Like I was just a shell."

The younger seemed to listen well, his head only nodding slightly when he finished talking. His voice felt oddly foreign and stiff in his throat when he spoke again, his voice barely about the whisper and it was hard to hear over the sound of the moving car. "I sometimes miss the old me, you know? Not with all this fucked up exterior and memory. I often ask myself why I can't be like other people."

Yoongi didn't know what kind of answer he expected from his friend, if he even expected to get an answer at all but it was certainly not this. "I don't know the old you but I think I like this one more." The older man frowned at this. That didn't make any sense. "That literally doesn't make any sense, Jimin." The other seemed to be a bit flustered as he started to defend himself. "I-I mean. You're cool the way you are, I guess? I like spending time with you. You don't have to change back."

The 26-year old swore that he saw a slight blush on the other's cheeks but it might have just been the light falling on him, so he just let it go. He couldn't stop the giddy feeling from entering his body though, happy to be someone Jimin could spend time with. It wasn't often that people understood Yoongi with the way he was. His friend was special, he could tell.

"Just, just promise me you won't give up on me?" Yoongi spoke, not knowing where the words came from, didn't know why he formed them in his mouth. Why was he saying this? He shouldn't force the other to promise him this sappy stuff, what the hell.

But the words were out already and he could feel the awkward silence eating its way through his skin, making the hairs on his neck stand up.

"Like I would ever give up on you, hyung. But yes, I promise." The other agreed happily. "Hyung?"

"Y-yes?" Fuck, why did his voice crack just now?

"Promise me you won't leave me behind?"

Yoongi took a deep breath in.

"Okay." He breathed out. "Okay, yeah, let's do that."

Jimin chuckled, the sound light and airy, not heavy and nervous like Yoongi's voice.

"Say I promise! Say it!" the black-haired man insisted, bouncing in his seat. Yoongi laughed a little. This guy.

"Alright, I promise. Happy?" Yoongi took a look at him for a second, watching as the younger man's eyes turned up, making him look like a happy puppy. "Very." He answered and quickly turned around to look out the window on the passenger's side.

.

.

.

It was starting to get dark outside. They had been on the road for more than six hours now, the destroyed roads making it hard for them to go further and Yoongi knew they still had a long way to go when he looked at the maps which were now slayed out all over his lap. During that time Jimin had fallen asleep on the other side, quiet snores the only sound in the car right then.

The older man took a look at the car, most of the lights blinking rapidly. They couldn't use this car anymore, it had broken down. And of course, Yoongi had anticipated this but he had hoped to drive a bit further with it or maybe even get all the way towards the outer parts of Seoul. Nevertheless, he still wanted to try to get the car going again so he went outside, armed, and took a look under the hood and into the trunk but nothing was there for him to fix or discover. All he found was their backpacks, some food, a few blankets, a spare tire and old junk that he should have thrown out when he first started the car.

Yoongi tried to move the car, exchanging the battery a few times before giving up. They didn't have anything to fill the tank up as well, so there wasn't really anything he could do about it right now and he was sure there wasn't a gas station near them.

They were officially fucked.

The good thing (was it a good thing?) was that they were in a relatively calm area right now, nothing but earth and a few trees around them, no flesh-eating creatures around. Or at least he hoped so. They would have to spend the night here, since moving around at night without a flashlight that was working, he forgot to bring batteries, was dangerous as hell. He opened up the back of the car and adjusted the backseat a bit, pushing it down and extending the space that was there for his friend to sleep on. Yoongi cursed, puffing out a breath in the now cold air and went back into the car.

"Jimin, wake up." He shook the younger man a bit, his hand placed on his shoulder. He really didn't want to disturb his companion but if he slept like this he would be sore the next day, which really wasn't good since they had to walk quite a bit.

"Huh? What?" the black-haired boy mumbled, looking around in confusion. Cute. Yoongi smiled a bit. "You should move to the back, its more comfortable that way. The car is done for, we have to walk tomorrow."

Realization seemed to dawn on Jimin's features, his hands pushing him up in his seat a bit. "But hyung where will you sleep?"

Yoongi turned around in his seat, eyes on his friend now. "Hm? I'm just gonna sleep here. I've slept in worse positions, believe me." And he had. He remembered the times he had slept on ships, trees and rooftops, none of them as comfortable as a cushioned car seat. "I'm fine, really, just get back there." Yoongi moved his hands to signal for the other to move to the back side but he shook his head. "No, hyung there's enough space for the both of us. Your back is gonna hurt tomorrow." The younger drawled out, guilt seeping into his tone.

"What? No, I'm good here, I promise." Yoongi laughed, already moving to get more comfortable.

"Don't be ridiculous, we can both sleep there, come on."

Jimin climbed over the side of his seat to get to the back and pulled out some of the blankets they had kept there, using his backpack as a pillow again. Yoongi shivered despite himself and he pulled his jacket closer to his body. He didn't want the 22-year-old to know that he was cold.

"Yoongi, you're cold, come here."

Well, so much for that. Yoongi refused once again but his friend didn't seem to let it go so he finally let out a breath and moved to the back as well. He took off his shoes and threw them into a corner somewhere and accepted one of the blankets the younger gave him. They both were lying on the turned over seats now and the cold air swirled around them, making them shiver.

He wasn't really prepared for this kind of weather at all, most of the time he had spent sweating in the sun, pulling up the sleeves of his shirt, his jacket tied around his hips. But now it was freezing cold, not even his thick jacket was helping him now and as uncool as it was, he snuggled into his blanket deeply, curling up like a baby and scooched a bit closer to Jimin.

The younger man didn't seem to mind, though and came closer to Yoongi as well and, god-damn it, they were cuddling now, there was no other way to describe it. Yoongi felt heat blossom on his cheeks, his nose buried into the blanket close to Jimin's neck as the other sighed happily, moving back a bit more, pressing his back against Yoongi.

Was this kid for real? Why was cuddling accepted now?

The older man didn't find any answers, though, as he heard the other's breathing even out, his chest rising and falling in a soft rhythm. It was very comforting, Yoongi had to admit. He didn't feel as scared anymore, the dark and open space making him anxious. This was fine, though and he felt warm and he had to do this to survive, he told himself. Yeah.

It was okay.

Jimin looked very adorable from this position, his hair falling onto his face a bit, lips in a cute pout and hands curling on his chest. Yoongi thought that maybe, just maybe he was starting to develop a bit of a crush on his younger friend, the warmth that tugged at his heart the evidence for this. He sighed out quietly, not wanting to wake the other with his thoughts that seemed to run wild at the moment.

But the warmth Jimin's body was giving off calmed his nerves and eventually, sleep took Yoongi's consciousness and they stayed there together like that, curled up in that old car in the middle of nowhere.


	5. Chapter 5 Cards Against Humanity

It was September 4th 2032 and Yoongi woke up with the biggest headache in history. Groaning loudly, he tried to sit up from his position on the backseat but was stopped by an unknown limb that was sitting on his stomach. His friend must have attached himself to him during the cold night, his face frowning and his body curled up in the blankets. The older man slowly shoved his arm away, careful not to wake him, he needed all the sleep he could get. He then got up and left the car as silently as possible. The older man regretted it the second he stepped outside. "Fuck." He cursed, it was cold. Really cold. He wondered how the weather could have changed so quickly. First it was like a million fucking degrees and now it was freezing outside. Climate change sucks, Yoongi thought to himself and shrugged. It's not like the world was too fucked up by that already but nope they had to throw zombies into the mix.

The morning sun shone on the street in front of him, the soft cold light blinding him a bit and making him shiver. There was nothing in front of him except the road and some trees, only a few clouds in the sky. He tugged his jacket closer to his body. He hated being hot but he didn't like being cold, either. Why couldn't he have nice things?

Shortly after he stepped back into the car and sat in front of the wheel. He grabbed his prothesis and a piece of cloth, wiping it down to get rid of the excess moisture that had collected there on the surface overnight. He made sure that his arm was free of any excess oil from the cream and attached it back to his arm carefully, making sure that there weren't any loose screws. Grabbing the maps and feeling the thin paper crinkle under his hands, Yoongi tried to figure out which way to go next. They had to go by foot, that much was clear. The transport of their resources was important, too. They had to get all the food and water with them, otherwise they would just die on the way.

He could make out the marks that meant train tracks as they ran through the area and the white-haired man wondered if there was any food or water in one of the train stations. Maybe he should make a stop there and look at the places for a bit. He needed more bullets, too, but really any weapon would work. He was familiar with most of them, after all.

A faint groan could be heard from the back of the car, the younger man seemed to have woken up from his slumber. "Hyung?" He heard the other whisper but didn't answer immediately. Suddenly, Yoongi heard a whimper and something that sounded like a sob coming from the same person and he turned around alarmed. "Hyung!"

"Jimin, I'm here." He called, voice slightly nervous but reassuring. The younger sat up and turned around, eyes wide and watery, mouth hanging slightly open. His shoulders relaxed visibly when he spotted his friend in the front seat. He quickly wiped the tears away with his sleeve, only living behind his swollen eyes. "You okay?" he asked again, turning around more this time and looking at Jimin directly. The other nodded shyly and turned around to wipe his nose. The older smiled a little. Strong, huh?

"Sorry, I guess I had a nightmare or something." Jimin mumbled after a few seconds of silence, turning back around to face his friend, putting on another layer of clothes to shield himself against the cold. "'s fine." The white-haired man called in return, shifting his attention back to the maps in front of him. He really needed to figure out where they needed to go otherwise they would be stuck in this car without any more food and water.

"We need to walk a lot today; do you think you can do it?" Yoongi asked, his eyes not leaving the paper. "Yeah, no problem." The other answered but he could detect the insecurity between the lines. "Don't worry. I'll figure out where we need to go. I think making a few stops at some of the train stations would be useful but obviously there are no trains to take us to Seoul."

"Okay. Just tell me if you need any help."

The 26-year-old nodded in return, looking over some of the routes he planned before and debating on which one of them was the best for them to take. "Alright get your things together we are leaving in an hour."

Said hour passed with both of them packing everything they could carry into their backpacks and stuffing their stomachs with food and water. Soon they were left on the road, with nothing but themselves and their backpacks, walking through the area that was now swarmed with fog.

Yoongi walked in the front, his eyes careful to catch everything that moved and Jimin behind him, making sure they were secured from the back. "Yoongi." He heard the boy whisper and stopped. He heard cracking noises again. Fuck.

"Don't move." he hissed back, grabbing the other's hand hard. The creature was walking on the right side of the road, its white, milky eyes looking over the area but not seeing anything. Its head turned towards their direction shortly but moved harshly to the other side when it didn't hear anything.

They had three options now. Number one, keep quiet until the zombie is far away enough for them to keep walking, which could take a long time. Number two, shoot into its head but making a lot of noise so other zombies could hear them and attack them as well or number three, keep walking quietly.

He didn't even have to think about it. He pushed his index finger to his lips, facing Jimin and signalizing for him to keep quiet. Jimin nodded, following Yoongi's orders and following behind him quietly. They took four steps and the thing turned around rapidly, taking a few steps towards them. Then it froze, and turning its head again, listening for more sounds.

The older man's blood was pumping and he could feel adrenaline rush through his body again. Sometimes he really wished he didn't have any feelings because this really would be immensely easier if he didn't feel this much fear but here we are. He knew his companion must've had it a lot worse and it was proven to him by the quick little gasps his friend let out when the thing looked at them for a minute.

When it kept walking, so did they.

Baby steps.

It was important now for them not to run, because the fog would make it hard for them to see and really, they were at a disadvantage here because the creatures could hear quite well, almost like some sort of animal and they didn't even know where the road ended.

.

.

.

They walked further, the fog swallowed up the creature now, its limping body disappearing in the thick white color. Both of them turned their heads to see if it was still following them but sighed in relief when it didn't.

A part of Yoongi felt incredibly sad at the sight, so much that he wanted to cry and scream and rip his hair out. He imagined what kind of human that creature must have been and now they were just walking around aimlessly, _lost_ even. Maybe those things were still conscious about what was going on around them but they didn't know how to escape it or maybe they were just dead bodies controlled by an illness or parasite. He didn't know but it made him incredibly angry to see them like this. Every dead person deserved to be treated with honor, he thought and this really wasn't a way in which people should be treated. Then again, who would be held responsible for this?

When he looked back at Jimin, whose hand had squeezed his, he met wet eyes that looked up at him with some kind of emotion.

Yes, he understood.

He felt the same and he didn't like it, either.

But what Jimin's eyes asked of him was something incredibly dangerous and he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. But those big brown eyes pleaded, not for him, but for someone else, for someone lost who couldn't defend themselves and his decision was so easy to change all of a sudden. Every thought of hesitation, regret or fear left him when he took a step forward.

Jimin handed him the weapon and then there was only the echo of the bullet shooting out of the gun to be heard and everything went quiet. Yoongi stepped back into the direction they came from and he saw the body on the floor, its head oozing out blood now.

He looked at it, brows furrowed and went back to Jimin who gave him a sad smile, holding his hand open for him to take. He slid his fingers into Jimin's palm who squeezed his hand firmly and tugged him into the direction they were going before.

They kept walking, Jimin's gun still in his hands, it's where it belonged, anyway. Soon they passed a few buildings but those disappeared as well when they kept going into that direction, still nothing but fog surrounding them and the road. In the distance, or what seemed like it, Yoongi finally spotted the train tracks. They must have been walking for a while now because the tracks were quite far away from what he had seen on the maps.

"We'll follow the train tracks, they'll lead us to a train station or something, maybe we can get something to eat there." he said quietly. He could see cars left on the side of the road but didn't dare check if someone was there. One thing he had learned during his time on the streets was that places where people used to hang out in are now the most dangerous, not just because there could be zombies lurking around but also because other people were terribly paranoid and often tried to shoot him as soon as they spotted him. He just didn't look like a human, so that was fair, in a way, but it still pissed him off slightly. He didn't even walk or behave like a zombie, any person with a decent brain could see that.

Yoongi let go of his friend's hand to take out the device he used to check the time and date. It was a mix of a radio and a phone, most of the parts unrecognizable. He used it to communicate with others. It hadn't worked, yet but he still had hopes that it would someday and kept checking it every day for new messages. It also held a compass inside it, very useful in situations like this where he didn't exactly know where he was. And really, it was a pain in the ass to walk into the wrong directions for days and then find out that you have to go all the way back.

He had been there.

"Hyung?"

"Hmm? Talk more quietly."

Jimin whispered back in a hushed voice. "Who made your prothesis?"

"Really, that's what you're gonna ask now? I'm in the middle of something here." Yoongi pullet out some cables from his radio but it didn't do anything, little lights flashing but nothing else happened. He groaned quietly and put it back into his pocket.

"What is that thing?"

"Something like a radio but that's not important, doesn't work anyway."

A few seconds passed.

"A friend of mine made my prothesis a few years back after the attack." Yoongi looked at his friend with exhausted eyes. He hadn't told this story to anyone, of course not, who was there to tell a story to?

"Is he still alive?" Jimin asked, eyes soft on him and the 26-year-old wondered why this kid was so interested in him, anyway.

"I'm not sure. Guy said he'd move to Seoul as well but I think he left before I did. He didn't want to wait for me, he had family and everything." he mumbled, the memories coming back in a rush to his brain. He pinched the back of his hand a bit, the rough skin bending under his touch.

"What was his name?" his companion asked again, looking at him with soft, understanding eyes, his pace slow but moving.

"Namjoon." he breathed out. The man was burned into his memory, names weren't that important to him, though, as he remembered him for what he did.

"He was really cool." he smiled.

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.

.

When Yoongi woke up the first thing he saw was bright light, bright hospital lights, that is. Was there still electricity in this building? How?

He tried to get up slowly, a splitting headache making it hard for him. Then re realized that the headache wasn't the problem, it was his arm, or not his arm? Well, it wasn't there anymore so he couldn't sit up properly. He felt hands tugging at his sleeves, pulling him up in a sitting position.

"Oh good, you're awake." The person said and the white-haired man remembered him as the guy he saw in the hospital yesterday (was it yesterday?).

"How long was I asleep for?"

"A day, maybe 26 hours." The man replied, his voice calm and gentle.

He looked around the room and found himself in a not so clean hospital bed, needles attached to his arm. The room seemed to be pretty small but somewhat comforting, something Yoongi never would've described hospital rooms as. The walls were light green and white and the linoleum floor was slightly dirty, water and mud shining in the light that was coming from the window. There was a lamp next to his bed as the doctor, he didn't know, examined his arm.

He didn't dare to look down, the shock still sat in his gut and he was terrified of what he would witness.

"It's okay. It doesn't look that bad anymore."

He glanced up at the man warily but he met a blinding smile and it gave him the strength he needed to look down.

His arm was bandaged up but it looked fine, better than when he had tried to fix it up. The swelling seemed to have gone down a bit and there weren't any more traces of blood to be seen on the rest of his body. He released the breath he was holding and leaned back a bit.

"Thank you for helping me, really."

"I was really surprised, you know. I've never seen anything like this before." The tall man took his arm in his hands, fixing the parts of the bandage that had come undone.

"It's amazing. It's like you stopped the virus from spreading but it still had an effect on you. But it seems like it only changed your appearance." He looked confused now, brows strung together tightly. "You didn't have any other symptoms, did you?"

"No, just the hair and skin. And when it bit me, my arm turned this weird color. But seems like that's gone now, too. It hurt like a bitch, though." Yoongi laughed.

The man smiled at that, his eyes squinting a bit. "Yeah, I believe that. It's really weird, though. I don't understand how you stopped it. Just because you cut your arm off, doesn't mean that you stopped it from spreading, viruses and illnesses just don't behave like that." He reasoned, putting a finger to his chin and seeming to talk to someone else that wasn't Yoongi.

He listened to the man's explanation, not really knowing how to respond to it since he didn't get it either. He was just fucking lucky. He could've died that day.

"You know, I'm surprised you even helped me. If someone like me would've come my way I would've ran out in like 0.2 seconds." he grinned. "That was really nice of you, thanks." That was the understatement of the year, the man must've been terrified.

"You're welcome." He replied, turning around and seemed to prepare something.

"Are you hungry? I made dinner." The man offered what seemed to be kimchi soup or something like that. It smelled good – very spicy – and Yoongi heard more than felt how hungry he was.

"I take that as a yes." The man laughed at the sounds his stomach made and placed the bowl on his lap. "Try to eat as much as you can. You might still be a bit nauseous but it will give you strength."

"I'll try, thank you."

With that the man bowed and left the room to do other things, he guessed. He shoved some of the soup into his mouth, burning his tongue at first but eating it greedily when it cooled down a bit. It was absolutely divine. He didn't know if it tasted like that because he was hungry or because his helper was actually good at cooking but he didn't care. It was food and he was fucking hungry.

Yoongi wondered if there were any other people in the building. He listened for any sounds in the rooms and corridors but only heard the sound of wind hushing through the cracks.

Maybe half an hour later, he didn't know exactly, the man came back, another human following behind him. The guy was pretty tall, taller than the man who helped him and his hair was brown and split in the middle, his locks falling over his tan face. He smiled at Yoongi, deep dimples showing on his cheeks and thick lips curling up. He greeted him with a soft hello and stood next to his bed.

"My husband told me you needed some help?" he said, voice deep and scratchy. "Uhm yeah? I guess? I mean I'm fine now, why do you ask?" he replied, unsure of what he meant.

"Your arm, I mean. I'm not a professional, but I know how to make protheses. Or at least I looked at other people make them." He laughed, his voice getting a bit higher.

Did this guy think he was funny?

"Uhh, I'm not sure if I should let you do it then, no offense." Yoongi really didn't mean to be rude but he wasn't getting his fucking arm infected because some pseudo doctor said it would help him.

"No really, it's fine, I can do it. Look, you probably need it if you want to survive this, okay? How are you going to climb and all that shit? There's no one around to help you and you could barely sit up a minute ago."

Yoongi glared at the other man, his sheepish smile blinding.

He did have a point, though. When would he come across a professional, who knew how to make protheses and also attach it to his arm properly in the damn apocalypse? The answer was: he wouldn't. So, he really didn't have a choice here and the man really didn't seem to want to harm him in any way. They had been very generous so far.

"Alright." He just mumbled and felt a bit awkward as the two of them stared at him with small smiles.

It took about a week when Namjoon, he had told Yoongi, was done with the attachment for his arm. He had taken measurements and formed the prothesis from old pieces of metal, screws and rubber, making it look a bit weird but hey, he wasn't complaining.

The moment he did complain, however, was when Namjoon tried to attach it to his arm, because it hurt like a bitch. And that was something the soldier didn't admit very often.

"Fuck. Be more careful!" he groaned, slightly moving his arm away from the tall man. "Sorry, it always hurts to attach it at first but you're going to get used to it in a bit." He promised.

It didn't work at first and there were a lot of adjustments to make. First it was too tight, then it was too loose, making it fall off him easily. It left some bruises and Namjoon cursed every time he had to get back to work, the details making it hard for him to customize it for him. But he was patient and spent all day working on it and Yoongi had never been more grateful for these two people in his whole life.

When the week passed he had learned a lot about them. He called them friends now. Seokjin had met Namjoon a few years ago at a record store, not knowing what to do with himself and Namjoon, being the nice and talkative person he was, gave him some advice on what to buy as a present for his friend. Soon he was coming back every week, buying new CDs and asking him questions about music. And boom, just like that, they fell in love and married two years later.

Seokjin was a doctor, he had told him, a surgeon, to be exact. And his husband was working in different fields, both in medicine, engineering and music. He told Yoongi with a confident tone that he hadn't known what his passion was, so he tried a bunch of different things and just had fun with it. He admired him for his courage, jealous of the fact that he just did what he wanted to do, ignoring the complaints from his parents.

It reminded him of his own life, his parents forcing him to go to the military camp, saying it was good money but it wasn't what he wanted to do with his life at all.

They talked about life and the music they liked, revealing the fact that Yoongi was into music as well, producing some songs in his room alone at night when he had time and wasn't signed up for service. Namjoon and Seokjin had asked him about his preferences, he answered he liked rap and hip hop and that's just how they bonded. He also found out that both of them were older than him, Seokjin being 29 ("You're getting old, hyung." "Shut up.") and Namjoon 27.

Soon he was reminded of the fact that he had to leave as both of his new friends packed their things to leave as well. "Sorry, Yoongi. We need to go." Seokjin had told him as he went out the door, the weapons on his belt not fitting his gentle personality at all, making Yoongi nervous for their safety. "It's okay. Be careful out there. And thanks again for the help." He had replied with a sad smile. It hurt him to watch them leave despite the fact that he preferred to be alone.

"No problem. Leave when you feel better and watch out for zombies. They don't care that your sorry ass is injured." He laughed, following behind Namjoon who was watching out for enemies on the way outside. "See you, Yoongs. Come find us in Seoul, let's meet again there." He had smiled, his eyes alive and hopeful. It gave him strength as well.

"Sure, see you guys there." he answered and they were gone a second later, their footprints echoing in his mind for a few more minutes.

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.

.

Jimin glanced at him with big shining eyes when he was done telling the story, he smiled at the memory and it seemed like time had raced by.

"Wow, they sound so cool, hyung! I hope I can meet them one day and thank them for taking care of you." Jimin grinned and Yoongi felt his face heat up. "Stop saying such nonsense. Why would you thank them." He scoffed, grinning at the smaller man's shenanigans.

"They saved your life, you know. And if you would've died that day then I wouldn't've met you." The younger boy said walking a bit faster to catch up with him. He didn't need to, though because Yoongi stopped and looked at him. "Huh."

"Huh?" Jimin laughed. "That's all I get? I'm saying I appreciate you being here with me, hyung. Have a little more tact." His friend laughed at him, his expression must've shown confusion or something else because Yoongi didn't really know how to react to that. "Stop saying that mushy shit." he then responded, walking faster than him now, making it hard for Jimin to keep up with his short legs. "Hey! Be nice!" it sounded like he was scolding a small kid that wasn't being polite in public and it made him chuckle. He was glad Jimin didn't take offense in his rudeness, understanding the joke behind it.

He then reminded Jimin and himself that they had to be quiet and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

About 25 minutes later they spotted an old building near the train tracks, which seemed to be some sort of station. The soldier suggested they go there to take a quick rest, stacking up on water and whatever food they could find and Jimin agreed, following close behind his friend.

The area was quiet around them, no creatures to be seen as the fog seemed to dissolve a bit the longer the day went on and when they finally reached the old wooden building, their sight was almost clear and they were able to see the grass-covered fields that surrounded the tracks and road.

Jimin was the first to enter the building, courageously telling the older man to stay behind so he could check for zombies. Yoongi chuckled a little at the gesture, finding it amusing that the usually frightened kid managed to overcome his nervousness this time. When Jimin gave his ok they both went inside and were stunned to find that the building looked like the apocalypse never happened. Chairs, tables and everything else were still in their normal place, he guessed and the walls were still intact, no scratches or broken pieces to be seen.

"I found some food!" his companion explained with a triumphant shout, holding up a few cans of tomatoes, soup and potatoes that seemed to have been stored under the sink.

The house was very home-y for a train station and Yoongi asked himself if this was actually a station and not just some weirdly placed house. Nevertheless, it was a good place for resting and Yoongi sat down in one of the chairs, making himself at home. Jimin did the same, sitting next to him and opening up a can of food. They both munched in comforting silence for a while before his friend became bored and pulled out a set of cards from his backpack.

When Yoongi spotted him he almost burst out laughing, holding a hand in front of his mouth to stop the food from spilling out. "Oh my fucking god. I can't believe you took those with you. You are fucking mental, Park Jimin." his laugh seemed to be contagious as Jimin started to giggle hysterically as well, placing the cards on the table messily. "What?! Can't we have some fun before we get attacked by disgusting, weird zombie thingies and die? I thought this was a genius idea." he grinned, puffing out his chest with confidence.

Yoongi agreed secretly and told Jimin that yes, okay, maybe they could play a few rounds and the boy seemed happy to comply.

To say the least, it was a good few hours for them.


	6. Chapter 6 Don't panic

I's been about two days since they had come to this house-like train station and Yoongi felt the anxiety build up inside him again. His dust-covered backpack was somewhere in the corner, reminding him of the fact that yes, they were still and danger and they should probably fucking _move_.

His laziness, however, stopped him from making a move and being with Jimin made him feel oddly comforted and safe, so he didn't feel the need to go out into the real world just yet. They had spent the two days resting again, playing cards and eating, filling their bodies with energy. The time came, though, and the 26-year-old assumed it was time to leave when even his friend mentioned "Maybe we should go." with a small smile and who was Yoongi to deny that? It was simply logical as much as he just wanted to lie around and sleep.

Over time he had learned some of Jimin's habits. He wasn't embarrassed about it, there just wasn't much else to do. One might think the apocalypse is full of action and adrenaline but most of the time it was quite boring, actually. All one could do was wait, move, wait, move more and eat here and there. He was glad he had someone to talk to and when they didn't, the elder got a kick out of watching the 22-year old, chuckling to himself when he did something weird or endearing.

The white-haired man noticed how his friend fumbled with his fingers when he was nervous or embarrassed, how his voice way way too high to belong to a man but it was still pleasant to his ears or how he seemed to be so damn _small_ but at the same time he was so buff and manly. He really didn't know the math behind it but he felt like it should be illegal.

Well, he thought, laws don't apply now, anyway.

He also observed how the younger seemed to be shy around him more, how he turned around whenever Yoongi seemed to stare at him, his cheeks turning a soft pink, but that might have been just wishful thinking. When he realized that these kind of thoughts were sort of inappropriate to think about a friend, so he tried to shift his attention to something else, most often his slightly torn shoes.

After a while they both decided to move forward again, taking their things and leaving the old house behind, following the train tracks further. The grass seemed to have taken over the metal, surrounding it and turning the silver color into a slightly more green color, some of the parts already sprinkled with rust.

If they hadn't been chased by zombies, the soldier thought this might've been a great way to travel. Really, it was fun. He had company to talk to, he had food, clothing that warmed him up in the september nights and he had a goal in mind, it was everything people with wanderlust could wish for. Sadly, this wasn't the normal world and they weren't here because they had a choice. Not really. They were trapped here, obviously, otherwise he would just walk home, take a nap and probably never wake up. His feet hurt, his head hurt, everything hurt. And his arm was itchy. But it was okay because Jimin was there to suffer with him.

The pain made him moody, though so after some time even his friend seemed to notice his change and asked if he was alright. "Yeah, I'm just a little fucked up. Mentally and physically." It wasn't anything dramatic, really. It was how it felt. And it was what he was. His friend laughed a little. "Good things take time and you're just late to the party, I guess." he laughed, voice high and airy.

Yoongi leaned his head to the side, pouting his lips. "Huh?" He didn't understand.

"Haha, nothing. I mean it's gonna get better, hyung. Once we find some medicine I'm gonna take real good care of you."

The younger guy had the nerve to fucking _wink_ at him and he lost it, his chuckle soon turning into contagious laughter that Jimin seemed to join in fairly quickly.

"Well, the same goes for me, haha." Yoongi chuckled, his hand covering his mouth as he laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I only have you, I don't need to worry about anything else." The older man kept walking until he noticed what had just left his mouth and holy fuck, he had just said that.

His friend seemed to be quite shocked as well because he stood right where he had been when Yoongi had spoken the line and looked at him with big eyes, mouth gaping. "I-I mean you're the only person I travel with so obviously there's only one person for us to take care of besides ourselves, right?" the older man tried to save himself and fuck, he knew it didn't work but he was too embarrassed to just let it go. "Right." The young doctor answered, blushing slightly and jogging to keep up with his friend's pace who was now walking quickly.

I'm such an idiot.

After a few more minutes a train came into their view, standing on the tracks, abandoned and empty. Or so they thought. They walked around it and noticed that both the exterior and the interior were empty and run-down, its paint peeling off in some places, metal getting decorated by dust and rust. Jimin went inside for a moment, looking for weapons, food or anything else but they didn't find anything useful to them. Grass blocked Yoongi's view as he looked underneath the train but there wasn't anything interesting there as well so he moved onto the roof only to jump down again a moment later because he saw something. Jimin came out of the train as well.

Upon closer inspection Yoongi spotted someone on the tracks. _Alive_.

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"What the fuck." He mumbled, tone surprised and shocked. He heard Jimin gasp behind him.

The person must have heard them as a gun was quickly pointed at them before Yoongi could react and he stood in front of his friend, holding his hands up.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" the brown-haired man shouted, his grip tight on the gun. He seemed to know how to shoot because his form was right. This wasn't good for him as those kind of people were harder to handle. God knows how easy it was to snatch the gun from his comanion's inexperienced hands.

"Sorry, we don't want to startle you. We were just passing by." The white-haired man tried to reason, voice as soft as it could be in a life-death situation.

"I asked who are you?"

The man must've been young, very young.

"I'm Min Yoongi and this is my friend Park Jimin. We are on our way to downtown Seoul."

The frightened boy looked at them over the top of the gun, lowering it with trembling hands. "Y-You're human, right?" he seemed to shoot a look over Yoongi's hard shoulders and he instantly knew he was talking to Jimin. "We both are." said man answered, voice steady and reassuring. He smiled a little at the tall boy, who was still crouching on the tracks in fear. He wore a green oversized jacket and ripped black jeans the were covered with boots at the bottom.

"Don't worry, we are not going to hurt you. We were just passing." Jimin answered, lovely and soft. It seemed to work as the gun was lowered a little more, the eyes of the man growing wide as he looked at Yoongi with disbelief. "You? You are human, too? But you look like- your hair! And-"

Not this again, ugh.

"Yeah, yeah I look like a freaking zombie, I know kid." He mumbled. God, he was tired of this bullshit.

The boy seemed to be surprised at his inappropriate reaction. Then again, this wasn't the first time someone had pointed a gun at the older man. Same old, same old.

After that there was a stiff silence as the boy seemed to take everything in. Yoongi came a bit closer to him, hands still raised as his arms started to hurt. The kid immediately pointed the gun at him again, brows furrowed harshly. His eyes fell on Yoongi's prothesis which was revealed when the sleeves of his jacket fell down a bit.

"Are you sure you're human? And don't come closer!"

"I mean, I'm sure I've always been dead inside, but yes."

The boy seemed surprised for a second only to smirk a little afterwards, the tension leaving his body a little.

"I've never met a zombie with a sense of humor before." He replied smugly, hands still on the weapon but with what seemed to be no intention to use it. The situation seemed to not be as dangerous anymore.

"Watch out, kid. I might kill you." he replied, grin growing on his pale face.

The interaction was kind of ironic, really. He never managed to make friends easily but this was going surprisingly well. He wondered when he had become such a social butterfly.

The boy put the gun away and stood up from the spot he was sitting on. He reached out his tan hands, each reaching out to the two men, smile growing on his face. "I'm Jeongguk. Nice to meet ya." Yoongi shook his hand with a tight grip and now that he was so close he noticed how young the boy really looked. His teeth were big, so were his eyes and he reminded him of a bunny or some other type of cute animal. Definitely too young to be alone out here. He asked himself if he was younger or older than Jimin.

"Don't point that thing at me again." He chuckled lowly, releasing his hand. The young doctor seemed to laugh now as well. "It's nice to meet you, Jeongguk." He heard his sweet voice say.

"Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be in like a group or something? You seem pretty young." The white-haired man asked, worried for the boy's safety.

Jeongguk seemed to get more uncomfortable at the question, head hanging low now. "I did but they all died in an attack. They weren't zombies, just, humans. They were really aggressive and scared, wouldn't believe that we were humans as well." Yoongi nodded, understanding his dilemma. "Well, do you want to join us?" Jimin asked all of a sudden and both men turned around to face him with shocked expressions. "W-what?" the young boy said. "Exactly. What the hell, Jimin?" he agreed. "We've literally known this guy for two minutes and he already threatened to kill us."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who would've done that shit. We are in the apocalypse for fuck's sake. People would be stupid not to carry any weapons with them."

"Watch your fucking language you ass. You're probably too young to say those words." The soldier spat back, his friend giggling in the background.

"I can say whatever the fuck I want, okay? How am I supposed to know that you're human when you look like _this_?"

"Stop fighting. We need to move."

"Hey, I never said I would come with you!" the brown-haired boy shouted.

"Fine, then stay here and die." Yoongi really wasn't the nicest person on earth but boy, did this kid get on his nerves already. He did feel some symphathy for him, though. He couldn't imagine being left alone in a scenario like this at that age. Yes, Yoongi did get sent to military school early on but he found some friends there at some point and he wasn't completely alone, it was only his family he didn't get to meet every day. There was no way to compare that experience to that of Jeongguk.

Jeongguk seemed to think about the offer, his head tilting to the side and his teeth nibbling on his bottom lip.

"Alright, I'll go with you. But you have to promise not to hurt me!" he yelled, pointing a finger at Yoongi specifically. "Not unless I have to." He mumbled, glaring at the kid.

"Okay, that's enough you two. How old are you, by the way?" his companion asked the younger boy.

"I'm 19 years old. My birthday was on the first."

He gaped at him. Holy shit. He was seven years older than him. He had figured the slightly explosive man was young but wow, this was a on a whole new level.

"You're kidding me." Yoongi actually couldn't believe it.

Jeongguk seemed to ignore his outburst. "How old are you guys?"

"I'm 22 and Yoongi here is 26."

The young man seemed to nod in understanding, walking next to Jimin. The older man was sure that Jimin felt some kind of connection to the boy simply because they were close in age. He could tell by the way he walked close to him, keeping an eye out for him and keeping his voice soft and cheerful. He hadn't known the man for long but he had figured out Jimin got like this when he was being protective.

They just walked for a while, the black-haired man shooting questions at the new addition to their team. The bunny-like boy answered every single one of them, still seeming to be a bit shy. Yoongi found out that his full name was Jeon Jeongguk, when everything started he was still in high school, planning to go to university afterwards to study architecture and engineering. His parents died in a fire when the first wave of chaos hit, killing them instantly. He didn't have any other close family, except for his brother Junghyun, who transformed early on, which is why he spent time with a team of survivers for a while until they got attacked about two months ago. He mentioned that he hid in some of the train station buildings around, too scared to go outside on his own. He also mentioned that he liked to draw and showed them some of his self-made maps of the area, since he didn't have any other ones with him.

To say the least, he was impressed by how far the kid got on his own. He didn't seem necessarily weak, muscles showing on his body, but he was a kid for god's sake and he didn't have any other weapons with him or experience. Jimin was a doctor at least. So, in a case of emergency he was able to care for himself medically.

The maps were pretty impressive as well, he recognized the areas Jeongguk had drawn, red showing the streets and blue areas showing infected areas where most of the creatures walked around. This was quite helpful, he noticed as they went a bit further, stumbling into one of those areas, trying to avoid them as best they could.

It was easier like this because he didn't have to watch his own back anymore, he had Jeongguk and Jimin for that now. Okay, he still had to show his friend the proper way to shoot but still, at least they had another pair of eyes to watch out for danger now.

When they reached the very outer part of Seoul the boy and him started fighting again, much to the 22-year-old's amusement.

"I'm sorry you weren't loved enough as a child and it made you cruel."

"Shut it, you overgrown rabbit."

"Nothing I've never heard before."

"Do you want me to cut your throat?"

"It's not like you can reach it."

Yoongi stood in the middle of the street, blood boiling. No one dared to make fun of his height. He saw the smug grin on the younger's face, Jimin's hysterical giggling in the background.

"Run, clever boy."

"You're being particularly mean today, hyung." Jimin laughed, mouth covered by his sleeves.

"I'm always mean. Besides you're short as well."

"You're really not." The younger giggled, ignoring his comment smoothly. "You know, Jeongguk, hyung is such a softy."

"I am not."

"Yeah, you are. You always take care of me, hyung." Jimin smiled sweetly at him, his teasing tone obvious and it made Jeongguk laugh out loud, voice squeaky and his hands clapping in amusement.

"I do it because you would hurt yourself and die." he deadpanned.

His companion pouted at that, putting his arms in front of his chest in a childish matter, copying Yoongi's voice quietly. He rolled his eyes.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing, hyung!"

Jeongguk laughed even harder afterwards. The mood was nice, he decided. Maybe having this guy around wasn't so bad, after all. Sure, they've only known each other for like an hour now but still. Yoongi found himself to be quite good at reading people and this kid didn't give him any bad vibes. He could use a friend or two.

He noticed how his negative thoughts seemed to have lessened over the last few weeks, being replaced with positive and hopeful ones instead. He figured it was because he wasn't stuck in his own head for long anymore, talking it out with Jimin really helped and he thought that maybe it helped the doctor as well. It hurt him whenever the younger man told him about the insecurities he had, how he desperately wanted to remember what happened in that facility when he escaped, how he didn't know if he was going to see his friends and family again and so on. They were all in the same boat here and it was kind of comforting.

The day went by surprisingly quickly and soon it was September 7th, just a week after Jeongguk's birthday. Jimin decided that it was a shame he didn't get to celebrate it with anyone and when they finally found another building that was safe, they had a little party there, giving their new friend some of the food they had collected the days before. ( "It's not much but here you go." "Ah, hyung.")

The boy seemed to be very happy about it, tears spilling out as he thanked them. 2028 Yoongi would've thought this was certainly very fucking weird and slightly cringe-worthy because they've literally known each other for a day now but he got it. He understood why the kid was so moved, after all this was the first time, as he had told them, that someone had celebrated his birthday with him since the beginning of the apocalypse and it made him just the slightest bit emotional as well. The boy seemed so broken and lost that he felt the urge to take care of him.

He mentioned that he hadn't celebrated his birthday in ages, either and so did Jimin. In fact, it was just a big birthday party for all of them and they enjoyed it immensely.

.

.

.

Yoongi woke up to the sound of crying. It alarmed him immediately and he tried to see where the noises came from only to spot Jimin on the other side of the room, curled in on himself with tears streaming down his face. Not even bothering to put his prothesis back on, he got out of his nest of blankets and clothes, standing up on tired legs. He took a few careful steps towards him as not to scare him away.

"Jimin? You okay?" he whispered in a groggy voice.

He hears sniffles and his friend wiped his nose, eyes still red and swollen. He hoped Jeongguk wouldn't wake up from this.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, patting him on the shoulder but the younger man only shook his head, head buried in his arms. Yoongi waited a few more silent minutes to let him calm down, after all it was sometimes better not to talk at all.

After a while the younger's tears seemed to stop and in a broken whisper he answered the other's question.

"Hyung, I remember."

His heart started pounding quickly all of a sudden and concern was the only thing he could feel for his friend in that moment. "Jimin."

"They hurt me, Yoongi."

"What do you remember?"

Jimin whimpered and he flinched. He was really insensitive sometimes, fuck.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. It's fine."

The 22-year-old shook his head, looking up at him. There was a supple hint of anger in his eyes that he couldn't quite place.

"Remember the building I was in?"

He nodded, feeling anxious.

"They tested me there. I don't know what for but they did. And I know that it hurt."

He stared at his friend, letting the words sink in gradually. "What kind of tests?"

"They took blood samples, lots of them. And I remember sitting in a chair for hours in a white room. They also gave me medicine but I can't remember which one. I just remember a green pill bottle." His friend seemed to be in despair of trying to remember what kind of medicine it was they had given him.

"Maybe they drugged me, I don't know. They also cut me on different parts of my body. At least I think so, I remember feeling like something had burned or cut me but I'm not sure."

There was hot anger building inside Yoongi's chest that he didn't know how to stop. Just the thought of people hurting his now precious friend gave him the urge to puke and it made him want to find those assholes and beat them up. If he got his hands on them he swore to himself to give them a lesson, to not hold back no matter what.

He was quite shocked by all of this, really. They had been on the road together for a while now and not once had the young doctor remembered anything. Not even little bits but now everything seemed to crash on him at once. He understood why Jimin was so scared and confused, any normal person would have reacted in the same way.

He turned around from Jimin, running his hand through his white hair, trying to find something to let his anger and frustration out on. He was being too loud and he knew but at this moment he didn't care. He didn't find anything, though. Clenching his fists, he walked back to Jimin who had told him in a hushed voice that he should come back. He had more to tell and the white-haired man was scared to find out what else the younger had to tell him, expecting some kind of story about him getting things sown into his body or people making him into the next Venom.

"I was so scared, hyung. It wasn't just me there, there were people like me sitting in those chairs, staring at something. I wonder what they were trying to accomplish." Jimin looked at the floor, his whole posture giving him the image that he was lost and scared, not sure if finding out would be a good thing or not. He also wondered what the other people in that facility were doing there. Were they still there? He didn't know.

"Don't worry. You're with me now so they can't hurt you anymore."

Jimin looked up with him with big eyes and he coughed, realizing what he had just said. "Jeongguk will protect you as well, so it'll be fine." Smooth, real smooth Yoongi.

"Are you sure that kid would put himself in danger for me?" the other smiled a little and he sighed, a small smile finding itself on his face as well.

"I'm not sure, honestly. But I'm gonna make him protect you if I have to." He laughed quietly. And just when the two of them talked about him he lifted his head. "What are you guys doing?" he mumbled sleepily, his eyes still half closed. It was kind of cute.

"Go back to sleep, Gguk." He shouted over to the boy who was still trying to sleep. He seemed to accept Yoongi's order and put his head back down, quiet snores filling the room after a short while.

"Do you think you'll remember the rest?" he whispered, voice soft but worried.

"I don't know. I don't think I even want to remember the rest. It was really terrifying, honestly." Jimin's eyes were starting to get wet again and shone in the soft light that came through the window.

Yoongi opened his arms then, coming closer to his friend. He didn't normally do this, actually, he never did this. He had a feeling that his companion needed this desperately, though, after not having any physical contact with someone trusted for so long.

And Yoongi's thoughts seemed to be true as the slightly shorter man came forward, lying his forehead on Yoongi's shoulder and wrapping one arm around his waist loosely.

"It's okay to cry. You don't need to hold back, I'm not going to judge you."

More tears spilled out of the younger's eyes after that, his fist clenching Yoongi's shirt as he wrapped his arm around the boy's neck, pulling him closer.

They soon went back to sleep, Jimin crawling a bit closer to where Yoongi slept only to ask the older if it was okay if he held his hand for the night. Yoongi agreed, knowing that in the morning the youngest of them would ask questions about it but he didn't care. His friend needed his help now and he was going to give him that.

Wrapped yet again in the blankets both of them breathed out softly, feeling each other's warmth through the touch of their hands. Yoongi debated with himself if it was logical for someone in this situation to have such soft hands at all, because, hey, they climbed, built, hurt themselves, yet Jimin's hands were still unbelievably soft. He also noticed how the small hands seemed to fit so perfectly in his own bigger ones, fingers curling around his companion's. Yoongi let himself have these embarrassing thoughts because it had been a very weird day, anyway.

And who was he to deny himself a little bit of happiness today.

It was a long journey for him, not just moving to Seoul but also getting along with himself as well. Once again, he was struck with the thought that Jimin's presence, even in this situation, gave him strength and the will to make himself into a better human being. He realized that he wasn't as whiny anymore, instead working with what happened around him and using things to his advantage. His thoughts were more positive and he was willing to open up to people more, something that had been difficult at first with Seokjin and Namjoon in the beginning. He had only trusted them after they saved his life without asking for anything in return and Yoongi thought that, maybe, it was kind of stupid to trust someone like Jimin who hadn't really done anything to earn his trust.

He didn't seem to care about that as much anymore, though, as his affection for Jimin grew. The boy was just really nice and calming for his all too troubled soul. Also, the 22-year-old had never done anything to make Yoongi distrust him. And he was grateful, really, to have met someone like this in literally the worst scenario ever.

.

.

.

He heard Jimin sleep beside him, his breathing even and slow and he smiled a little, hoping that nothing bad would ever happen to this man.


	7. Chapter 7 Nostalgia

Yoongi tried to get up from the dirty ground. His back ached and his hair was full of dust, making his nose itch terribly but he wouldn't let them hear him, never. He checked his device and read the date. He had forgotten how long it had been. September 25th. Fuck, he thought, dashing behind the bushes to get a better look at the building he was trying to get into. The walls were high and built of grey stone and concrete, making it look like some type of cube or prison, he couldn't decide which one fit better. He had to keep his promise to Jimin, though and it was just what he was going to do.

.

.

.

It had been about a week since Jimin had remembered some of his past. Everything had been going well, searching through the outer parts of Seoul, getting food at almost every corner now, it was almost too easy, really, and it was making Yoongi slightly anxious. He knew it meant that something was wrong. Why weren't there any zombies here and why were there supplies everywhere? It just didn't make sense. The two younger men didn't really seem to mind the situation at all but with each passing moment the white-haired man got more paranoid and suspicious because, honestly, this just _couldn't_ be right. It didn't make sense for such a big city like Seoul to have no zombies or at least other humans around. It had been a very populated area after all.

He smelled the air and looked around but there just wasn't anything that would warn him of any danger and he just didn't understand, couldn't wrap his head around what was happening. Jimin and Jeongguk, however, seemed to be quite happy with it all, really, relaxing and chatting with each other every day, their friendship growing quickly with each passing minute.

"If you don't want a sarcastic comment, don't ask stupid questions."

"Watch out with that attitude, hyung." Jeongguk answered, grinning and showing his big teeth.

"Sarcasm isn't an attitude, it's an art form." Yoongi spat, sipping on his bottle of whiskey. It had been the only thing to keep him sane these days, ironically. The high energy his friends gave off didn't help to calm his nerves like usual, either.

When the other two only laughed at him he turned away, swallowing more of the liquid and curling in on himself, pulling his jacket closer. Their own attitude pissed him off, too. Why didn't they understand that the whole damn thing was weird and suspicious as fuck? He guessed it was because he had spent so many years in the military and his friends missed the old times. To be honest, yes, he wished for nothing more than to have this whole thing end. Only a crazy person would like to live like this forever but seriously, this was getting very uncomfortable for him.

"Ahh, come on, hyung. Don't be like that." Jimin giggled, a few drinks in as well.

The soldier only turned away further, though, huffing out a breath that sounded like "Go away." But the little man didn't seem to care about his rude behavior, hugging him from the side.

"What the fuck?" he asked himself, shying away from the younger's touch.

"Language, Yoongi. Be at least a little more civil."

"I'm being perfectly fucking civil, okay? Just leave me alone."

He heard Jeongguk chuckle from the side, bottle of beer in his hand. This kid was too young to drink, he thought. Yes, even if he was 19 years old.

"Hey, Yoongi, why are you being like this?" the brown-haired boy asked then, looking at him through slightly tired eyes.

"Because fuck you, that's why."

"Hyung." Jimin said, looking at him more serious now. He turned his head to see that the smile had disappeared from Jeongguk's face.

"Okay, unfuck you or whatever. Don't be so damn sensitive, you know I can be mean."

Both of the others then burst out laughing, Jimin letting go of the white-haired man's arm and falling on the floor.

"You're pretty cute when you're being nice, hyung." Jimin laughed, Jeongguk nodding in agreement.

"What am I when I'm not nice?" he rolled his eyes.

He didn't know why he had muttered those words in response but he was pretty curious.

"Hot as fuck?"

He spit out his whiskey immediately and Jeongguk seemed pretty shocked as well when the 26-year-old looked over at Jimin who was looking back at him innocently, batting his long lashes.

This kid.

"Uhh." Jeongguk drawled, looking at the space between the two awkwardly.

He had to save this moment, somehow.

"Hey, who told you could talk like that, huh? Watch what you're saying. This disrespect."

Wonderful, fantastic, smooth, Yoongi, really. He facepalmed internally but sighed slightly in relief when Jimin giggled and apologized. The other boy seemed to have let it go as well but it took the older a few more minutes to calm his heartbeat that was racing more than he had anticipated. Why did those words affect him so much, seriously? Fucking embarrassing.

After that night Jimin didn't seem to remember the conversation at all, which he was grateful for, Jeongguk didn't mention anything either, wether it was out of respect for Yoongi or simply because he didn't care.

Other thoughts ate at his consciousness, though. They were walking down the streets of Seoul, their goal was to reach the Seoul tower but something was wrong. There wasn't anything around, at all. No corpses, no zombies, no broken objects. It was like time had stopped at this place, leaving it in the state it had been 2029 but without humans.

The 26-year-old took out his gun and loaded it. He was lucky to have found some ammunition during the week otherwise he would've been fucked. Jimin was better at shooting now, too, after some lessons from him and Jeongguk. As much as he trusted them, he was still very worried about them and the anxiety made his bones shake.

"Don't say a word." He had hissed when both of the boys had started talking quietly, wondering what was going on. Out of the corner of his eye, Yoongi saw someone in a white coat or suit. All of them struggled to hide quickly, ducking behind an abandoned car that was high enough to cover their bodies. They heard footsteps, maybe 150 feet away and once again the feeling of fear and adrenaline made themselves present in his veins. He hadn't missed this feeling at all.

The steps came closer and soon there were more of them, signalizing that there were several people on their way. Yoongi looked through the windows of the car, which was a bit difficult but he could spot the people that were coming their way.

They wore white coats and had gas masks on, their dark grey color in stark contrast to the coat. They seemed to be quite tall so he assumed they were men. Their pace was fast but relaxed, which told him that they probably knew where they were going. They must have had some kind of plan of what was going on around them.

Those guys definitely weren't zombies or struggling humans. Those were experts that knew the area.

The older man made gestures to show the other two that they should stay down until the people were gone and so they waited it out for about ten minutes. Afterwards Yoongi just couldn't walk away from that. No way. He needed to find out what was going on.

The whole thing just seemed incredibly weird to him. If those people were ok and if they just walked around here, carefree and everything then why weren't there more people here? Why weren't they contacted? Why did no one save them?

They couldn't be from the military, either. He would've known by the tags most of the officers and soldiers wore. Something was wrong and he was going to find out what it was.

They were in Donjak-Gu now, close to Seoul, so close that he had to make a decision here. They could follow those guys and find out what was going on or just continue their journey and meet the others. But what if these people had a cure? What if they were scientists or something? Yoongi could turn back into the person he once was.

"I think they know something we don't." he told the others quietly. Both of them nodded but Jimin seemed to be doubtful of the whole situation. "Hyung, I think those people are dangerous. Two of them had weapons with them and they just looked … weird."

It was true, they could be dangerous and he was aware of that but he wanted to know for sure.

"I need to find out what's going on. I swear once we know what's happening, we're leaving."

He looked over at Jeongguk who nodded determinedly and then back at Jimin who hesitated but agreed as well.

Silently and quickly, they followed the men in white into a restricted area.

.

.

.

It was his fault both of his friends were in there now. Jimin had been right. Once the people had spotted them, they took Jimin and Jeongguk, both of them not being able to react quick enough and only Yoongi escaped. Not even gunshots could keep them from taking his two friends. He remembered how they screamed his name but he knew if they went back immediately, he would be caught as well. That was how he found himself in this situation.

He knew he could just leave them and go. He knew they were adults and he really didn't carry any responsibility for their safety, but he had fucking _promised_. And he didn't want to imagine how scared both of the boys were, going into the facility and he might have imagined it but he thought he saw some sort of recognition in Jimin's eyes, which really only fueled the fear in his body. He had to admit to himself that both of them, especially Jimin, had come to grow on him and he wouldn't leave them alone in this mess.

He might be an asshole but he was an asshole with feelings.

So here he was now, prepared and ready to die. He didn't have a plan, not really. However, he was skilled and faithful and he was ready to die for his friends, so, who would stop him?

He first had to get into the building itself.

Yoongi spots a small opening when he walks around the building. Guards are watching the area everywhere and he really has to be careful not to get caught now. It would be a shame if he got caught right away, even his pride wouldn't live after that. He slowly approaches the crack in the wall, taking out his rope, he climbs up and jumps down on the other side. Luckily there are some metal pieces he hides behind once the guards arrive to see what made the noise. They disappear after a short while but not without grabbing his device that had fallen down when he ran to the other side. He curses silently and walks a bit further into the building. The device wasn't that important but it definitely helped him on his way. Oh well, it was gone now, anyway. He just hopes it takes them a long time to alarm the others.

He hears beeping and clacking sounds once he arrives on the other side of the room. It was dark but he could make out the sterile metal walls that were attached all over the room. Nothing relaxing about this at all. Yoongi notices how some of the people walk in and out of elevators, their hands pressing key cards to the digital surfaces, successfully entering the way towards the top floors.

He wonders how he would manage to get some of those cards without getting people to notice him. It would be difficult, that's for sure, as most of the guards walk in pairs, weapons set in front of their chests. He couldn't just run in and punch them, he had to be sneaky.

When he hears no more sound coming from the elevators, he jumps from his hideout and quickly moves towards the screen that were used to open the elevator doors. Making sure that there was no one around, he opens up the side of the device, cables and screws coming into sight. Now, he didn't know how to do this but he knew that cutting the red wire definitely meant death. Well, maybe not in this scenario but it was dangerous nonetheless. He should've known that this wouldn't work, as he knew nothing about technology or engineering. Namjoon would've known what to do, his friend was always good at this kind of stuff but he, unfortunately, wasn't.

He snapped the thing back together and moved to the other side quietly, looking for a different way out. He knew there had to be some kind of staircase somewhere, as the building seemed to have existed well before the apocalypse even started and back then staircases were a requirement. It must've been hidden somewhere, though, as it was more secure for the people that worked at this place. He really doesn't see anything in this darkness, though. And just when he tries to break open one of the metal walls does he hear footsteps come closer to his location.

He quickly ducks behind one of the bars that held up the roof and let everything else where he used them. Internally he is screaming at himself for not collecting the things first but, hey, he is incredibly nervous ok?

He freezes and all his thoughts are lost when he hears a familiar voice, though.

"Let me the fuck go, you assholes! You can't experiment on me, my blood is infected."

Taehyung?

"Mister Kim, this really isn't the time for you to yell at us. Just work with us here, okay."

"You don't know what they do to us down there." He hears the voice whimper.

"They test your blood and send you back up, I don't see how that is any bad, really." One of the guards chuckles and it seems to make the man angrier.

"You fuckers. You don't even know who you are working for. They are torturing people! Hurting them! And you support all this bullshit. Each day they send me in there and-!"

"Alright, that's enough." The guard replies in an annoyed voice and he hears how the man is pushed. Slowly he turns around to see if it really was his lost friend, somehow hoping that it was not him, because good lord, if what he says is true, then this place really is hell on earth.

He is scared of what he is about to witness but he has to know.

It is one glance and it is all it took to make Yoongi's heart feel like it was falling into his stomach. In that moment he doesn't believe his eyes, doesn't want to.

It is indeed his friend Taehyung.

TaeTae.

The only person he would trust in this whole world. He quickly covers the gasp that threatens to come out of his mouth and watches how the scene unfolds right in front of him.

The guards give him some kind of medicine to calm him down, one of them holding him down, the other injecting the liquid. His friend is unconscious after that and the group stands behind the elevator doors that close slowly, leaving the soldier alone with his thoughts again.

It really is a horrible coincidence that he finds his friend here, right where he lost his other friends as well and for some reason Yoongi thinks that it might all fit together in some way. He has to find out what they do with these people.

Now, even more confused than before and not one step forward, he continues to break open the metal walls to get to the staircases. After about half an hour of constantly hiding and hurting his arms he finally gets through and climbs through the small opening he managed create.

This is, however, not a staircase but instead he landed in some kind of control room. Confused as to why this room was not guarded whatsoever and why no one noticed him until now, he moves to the big screens and turns on the power of the computers.

Nothing.

He needs a password or card to get in, of course. Deciding that this is a waste of his time, the white-haired man moves forwards, through the next door he finds at the other end of the room. Before that he checks for anything useful, ammunition, knifes, information, anything. What he finds are some bullets, a rope, two slips of papers which seem to be newspaper articles and a nail. He puts all of those things into his backpack and pockets because, hey, anything here could be useful to him in some way.

When he opens the door slowly, the 26-year-old sticks out his head to look around for guards or anything that might attack him. He hears voices and quickly shuts the door, listening on the other end when the voices get quieter again and opens the door anew. He spots the people that walked away from the door and quickly follows them.

At the other end of the room is another elevator.

Before the two guards can enter, however, Yoongi knocks one of them on the head quickly with the back of his gun and the man falls unconscious on the floor. The other guy starts shouting for help and threatens himwith a taser, he assumes and he is quick to move, punching Yoongi with his left arm and threatening him with the device in his other arm. All of this isn't new to the white-haired man, however and he takes out his gun, pointing it straight at the other man's head. He sees how the man's eyes go wide, lowering his weapon in hand. The half-transformed man knows that this wouldn't do. A gunshot might alarm other guards to come into this corridor.

Instead he whispers: "You, fucker, are coming with me. If you pull any kind of bullshit 'm gonna put a bullet into that small brain of yours, understand?" The man nods, laying the taser on the floor and following the intruder to the elevator, the gun pointed at the back of his head. Yoongi knows this scenario was going to haunt him in his dreams for a while because all he really wants to kill are zombies, not humans. If they hurt his friends, however, he was not going to show any mercy.

They manage to get to the lowest floor, which does take a while and once they step out of the elevator, he takes out his shiny knife and kills the guy instantly, cutting through his throat in a swift motion. He knows the blood might alarm others once they spot the guy but he doesn't care. He wasn't planning on using this way out, anyway.

The atmosphere in this area is quite different from the one before, colder and darker, even though the lights are still the same and even metal walls are still the same. However, Yoongi finds out why he gets this feeling pretty quickly once he steps further into the room at the end of the corridor.

There is a big window on one of the walls, letting him see whatever they were doing with the people in this building. What he sees horrifies him more than the moment he had to cut his own arm off.

Hundreds of people lined up with tubes connected to their arms, blood flowing out of them and into huge containers. He sees people of all kinds of ethnicities but most of them are korean. This seems to be some kind of blood farm or something and Yoongi feels the bile rising up in his throat and he quickly finds a garbage bin to relief himself. He coughs silently and gets up again, his body still in shock of what he just witnessed.

He really doesn't know what they are doing here, since it was confirmed years ago that there wasn't a way to cure the zombies that had already transformed because the people were indeed dead and their bodies were just rotting away at this point. So, what were they panning to do with all this blood? When he observes more of the room he notices how they seem to be categorized into groups, each of the people wearing different colored shirts. He remembers that Taehyung wore one of those shirts as well and he gets reminded of the fact why he was here in the first place.

Quietly, the half-transformed man makes his way into the next corridor, which seems to connect one warehouse with the other. When he arrives in the next room there are people lined up in the halls below as well. Yoongi wonders exactly how many people they keep here.

Something is off, though.

Compared to the other hall there are not as many people around and most of them wear the same colored shirt, which was red. He sees some of the workers tugging a boy behind them, he couldn't've been older than 15 and the 26-year-old feels disgust well up in his stomach. The boy then gets tied to a chair and pushed into the middle of the room, a tube connected to his right arm. One of the men then injects something into the tube.

The boy starts trembling violently and tries to rip himself from the bonds. Blue travels up his arm and he watches in horror as the boy transforms right in front of his eyes. It was almost like Yoongi saw his reflection in that hall, helplessly trying to fight against the virus. He was glad he couldn't hear anything through the thick glass window.

After the workers made sure that the boy was fully transformed they carry him out of the hall, attaching some kind of plastic mask in front of the boy's face to hinder him from biting them.

More and more does Yoongi get confused as to what these people were doing here. It just doesn't make sense that they transform people into zombies. If they still want to find a cure, then why are they doing this? They are just destroying more humans.

He had been in the building for about another half an hour when he finally finds Taehyung unconscious on one of the chairs lined up in a grey colored room. He fights the guards one by one, quietly sneaking up behind them and cutting them, leaving behind a big pool of blood. Taehyung wakes up pretty quickly and lets out a gasp when he recognizes his friend. The 26-year-old shushes him and they walk out quickly, trying to find some kind of way out since the elevators were not a good option.

"Suga behind you!" he hears his friend yell and just in time does he take out his gun and fire the guy in the head, his limb body falling onto the floor with a crash. They run down the hallway towards the other side of the building when Yoongi remembers that, damn it, they were underground and they had to find another way out.

After searching the halls for a while, they spot … orange hair? And Taehyung's face lights up immediately, dragging his friend by his wrist and towards the splash of color.

"Hurry the fuck up." The person with the orange hair whispers harshly and the next thing he knows is that he's being dragged through some kind of hole in the metal wall and everything goes black.

.

.

.

They hopped out from the small opening in the brick wall and onto the dusty floor, Taehyung first, then Yoongi, then the man he just met. They crawl through the bushes quickly, trying to avoid any kind of contact with guards. The orange-haired man had a rifle with him and from what he heard, he shot some of the guards that spotted them.

They didn't stop for a while and just ran towards Hangang Bridge, which was their way to the Seoul tower. The white-haired man's eye stung with unshed tears in memory of the fact that he couldn't save his two friends today, leaving them behind a second time.

They finally slow down after a while, resting on the floor when they arrive on the bridge.

"Yoongi-hyung. How the fuck did you find me?"

After catching his breath the older looks up at his friend. He had bags under his eyes and just looked terrible in general, his hair a pale brown. The soft sound of flowing water is surrounding them.

"I was looking for someone in that building. Found you on accident." He panted.

Taehyung nodded, looking down and smiling a bit. "Guess I got lucky."

"Hell yeah you did." Yoongi smiled back, walking over to his friend and hugging him tightly. He breathed in his scent and noticed how Taehyung smelled like hospital and dirt at the same time.

"Oh, by the way, this is Hoseok. He was in my team before I got caught." His old friend told him quietly, tears spilling out of his eyes. He smiled fondly at him and offered a hand to the orange-haired man.

"I'm Min Yoongi. Thank you so damn much for helping us."

The man grinned widely and shook the soldier's hand happily. "I'm Hoseok, as Tae said but you can call me J-hope." He laughed. He raised his brow at him and chuckled as well. He was really lucky to find these kinds of people in times he needed them.

"J-hope. What kind of name is that?"

"Oh, you know. I helped a lot of people so I'm their hope. That's just how it went." He laughs again, patting Yoongi's shoulder.

"You can call Yoongi Suga if you want." Taehyung tells Hoseok and the 26-year-old glares at him fondly. "No, he can't. That nickname is dead."

Hoseok giggles at them and points towards the other side of the bridge. "By the way, my friends will be here soon, they were gonna help me get Tae but apparently that's done now. So how about we get those friends of yours out of there as well?" J-hope tells him in a hopeful voice and he might cry from joy. How is this person so nice? He literally just met him.

"You're joking right? This is a huge risk you're taking. They- do you know what I saw in there?"

Hoseok smiled at him. "I know what they do to people in that ugly facility. I've been there." He told the white-haired man sadly and he just stared at his new friend, dumbfounded. "What." He whispered and Taehyung touched his shoulder gently, mentioning for him to sit down next to him.

"You know, I've been there for about two weeks."

"Tell me what happened Tae, I need to know." Yoongi asked insistently.

"Okay, okay. I'm going to tell you but don't freak out. I need to process the whole thing first as well." He whispered and he nodded, eager to hear what he has to say. He was scared, too but he needed to know what they could do to Jeongguk and Jimin in there.

"I think they're trying to build some kind of weapon, you know? The zombies are slowly dying, as you might have noticed and they are going to disappear one day once they don't find anymore food. But I think what they're trying to do is to keep them alive, to make them into soldiers or weapons or something. No one is in charge of our country right now, so I think they want to take over." His eyes go wide but he doesn't say anything, just listening to what his friend has to say.

"They are testing blood and organs, they asked me what my blood type was. I-I think there is some kind of blood type that can hold the virus inside itself without dying or escalating."

"But how? That would never work. There aren't any people immune to the virus." he answered sternly.

"I know but maybe they manipulated the virus in some way? Or the bloor or something. I don't know, I'm not a scientist. But I do know that they drain those people of their blood for research and test their pain tolerance and organs. There's a room full of zombies as well. I don't know what they do with it." Taehyung told him quietly, his eyes going distant all of a sudden as he seemed to remember what happened to him in the building.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell him everything right now, Tae." Hoseok answered and Yoongi nodded again. His friend just got out of that hell and asking him all these questions now wouldn't make him feel better in the slightest so Yoongi just figured it was best to leave it for now.

"Anyway, I think we should find a place to sleep." Hoseok tells them and they agree, following him the end of the bridge.

They find a house to sleep in and as Yoongi took of his well-used prothesis, he remembered a certain pair of chocolate brown eyes, which he missed dearly. He lay down on the grown softly and put his head on his arm, staring up at the ceiling. He heard soft snores coming from his two friends but he couldn't sleep at all, worrying about Jimin and Jeongguk and how scared they must be right now. He saw how they treated Taehyung and in what state the boy was now, trembling and whimpering in his sleep. The 26-year-old thought this boy might never recover from the incidents ever in his life.

Now, even more worried but happy to have reunited with his old best friend, sleep took over his body and forces his thoughts to stop for just a few hours.


	8. Chapter 8 Occhiolism

It was a few days after they rescued Taehyung when they finally meet up with the rest of Hoseok's friends and to Yoongi's surprise it had actually been Seokjin and Namjoon, who looked at him in shock, because really, what were the odds? They had reunited in a big fashion, hugging each other tightly and Seokjin shedding a few tears in the process.

It had affected himself in a way he hadn't expected, either, and the 26-year-old was happy to have almost all of his friends together for now.

They had moved to Seoul Tower to prepare for their mission. Namjoon had asked him why they were going there in the first place and when he explained to him what happened, he looked at him with a sad but determined expression, nodding and telling him he would help. While both of them were there his tall friend looked at his prothesis as well, sanding down some of the sharper edges and fixing whatever there was to fix. Yoongi couldn't've been more grateful.

Then the training and preparations started. He was outside on the roof of a building next to the tower, safe enough for him to practice without having the chance of running into some shape or form of a zombie. It had been a while since he had practiced his fighting skills. Well, actually, that wasn't true. He was using them all the time. He rarely thought about his techniques, though and he wanted to change that today. Taehyung and Hoseok joined him as well, all of them learning from each other.

After about three hours of training and plenty of spilt sweat, all of them came back to wash themselves. Hoseok wanted to go out first though, trying to catch his breath. Taehyung then asked about Yoongi's scars when he saw them while the older was taking his shirt off and he showed his friend his own scars as well.

They realized how much they changed over the years. It somehow made a little hole in his chest, knowing that this boy had been hurt so much during the time the older had sort of given up on him. It made him sick to his stomach.

"Tae?"

"Hmm?" the younger looked at him, eyes curious and hands washing his brown hair.

"I heard what you said when you were in the elevator with the guards. About the virus, is it true? You have it in you?"

His friend seemed to know what he was talking about when his eyes widened for a second but he laughed a little afterwards, confusing Yoongi a little.

"Nah, I don't have it, I just bluffed. They would've done something with me if I had survived it. They haven't tested it on me." The word yet wasn't spoken but the soldier knew what was going on, so he didn't ask.

"I'm glad. That they haven't done that to you." He says sincerely. He didn't want his friend to suffer, didn't want anyone to suffer, really. But that was impossible.

"Yeah, me too." Taehyung seemed to be conflicted, though, rubbing the back of his head while he removed the soap with water. The soldier continued to scrub his skin.

"Uhm, about that. You look different." he continues, looking at the other cautiously in a way he hadn't before. The older hoped he wasn't scared.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd ask about that. A while ago I was attacked by the creatures and I got bitten. That's why my arm is like this now, but Namjoon took care of it." he explains, showing the younger what had remained from the attack. "I somehow stopped the virus from spreading but it still affected my looks. I'm not sure how that worked. I know I'm not completely immune but, you know. No one really knows what's going on with that weird virus thing. I'm not even sure why I survived it." He was rambling now but he wanted to let his friend know what he was thinking and it seemed to work as the other nodded slowly and shot him a smile.

"That's good to hear, hyung. I'm glad you're okay."

Yoongi returned the smile and got back to washing himself. It felt odd to get this kind of comfort again from someone you once would've described as "trusted". It made him feel weirdly giddy, almost, but the joy was short-lived as he remembered what kind of things were going on with Jimin and Jeongguk. His protective side was out again full force and it made it hard for him to relax at all. Taehyung seemed to notice his misery and gave him the support he needed whenever. It was nice.

"By the way, did Hoseok say anything about, you know?" he was pointing to himself.

Taehyung laughed. "Ah, I think he was surprised but he didn't seem to mistrust you at all. You didn't give him a reason to and just because you look a little like them won't make him hate you. He isn't like that. He looks beyond facades. I'm glad I found him." It was obvious that Taehyung trusted the orange-haired man and treasured him as a real friend, his eyes expressing the fondness he felt for the older man.

"He hasn't had it easy, either, you know. Always got fucking hurt, always getting used by others for his kindness, for helping him. They just drained him of everything he had." He continues, his voice getting louder and angrier for a moment. "I was so mad when he told me about it, smiling the whole freaking time. Like he didn't even care but I know it hurt him. I just knew it. And then they got me and he was left alone. I couldn't, I-I couldn't help him. I just left him like everyone else." he says, his voice going quiet afterwards and none of them said something for a while.

"I'm really happy to have this with you guys." He gestures around him as to somehow show his friend what he meant. Good thing was that Taehyung still seemed to understand the secret, awkward language he used whenever he was nervous.

"It's going to be fine, Yoongi. We're here for each other, remember?" he puts his hand on the white-haired man's shoulder. The white-haired man knew he was talking about Hoseok as well. "We all have the same goal here." And just like that his hand disappeared from his shoulder. Yoongi was left to his own thoughts again when Taehyung left the quiet room.

"Fuck." He cursed silently and put his face in his hands. He knew they were going to be somewhat fine but he couldn't stop the negative thoughts and worry from invading his head constantly. It was like the virus wasn't the physical illness itself, but the thoughts and darkness that came with it. He was so glad everyone was around him, otherwise he would've already destroyed himself in worry for Jimin and their youngest. Like this it was somewhat bearable at least. Still, he missed them. It was weird because he really hadn't known them for very long but he felt like he's known them for more than a lifetime.

When he went to bed that night, he wasn't falling asleep like he had the last few days, instead his head slowly got filled by thoughts about a certain small black-haired boy in which he seemed to drown in. He groaned into his pillow, the soft but stuffy material warming up his face, which was already burning hot. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, turning around on his back as he stared at the ceiling in annoyance. He really missed his little companion, his little sunshine.

He's never imagined himself to be a clingy one, but he really missed Jimin and it didn't help to know that he was in immediate danger and everything could happen while he wasn't there. He wondered if the boy was scared, crying as he usually did and it only made the older man's heart beat faster in panic, his brain signalizing that, no, he definitely didn't want that. But what was he supposed to do?

He bit down on his bottom lip to stop the sob that was almost coming out of his mouth, a few tears escaping his eyes. He knew he sort of started liking the boy on the way with his plush lips and innocent behavior, making Yoongi want to protect him at all cost. But he didn't expect how much it would wreck him, how much it would hurt.

Jimin had been the only person he really, deeply connected to in a long time, the first real friend he made in years and it was all going to waste now. He knew this wasn't necessarily love in a romantic way, but he definitely loved him as a cherished friend and companion, as someone he almost wanted to call family.

He also worried about Jeongguk, how the boy was probably handled with violence, his stubbornness only getting him into more trouble and it made him cry harder, wanting nothing more than to stop all of this mess from happening. His chest tightened when his brain made him imagine the tired and scared look on the younger's face, his big eyes going even wider at the things they were doing to humans in that stupid fucking facility. He hoped the boy would be strong for him, not letting anyone see his fear. Yoongi knew he would be stong, the kid was a fighter and the guards and workers would feel the fire that was burning inside that young man for all they knew.

Hoseok seemed to notice how the older was going through a bad phase right now and scooched closer to him, sitting next to his bed.

"Bad thoughts?" he whispered, not looking at him directly. The soldier breathed out a trembling "Yes." And wiped at his face, his sleeves soaking up the liquid and building dark spots that weren't seen in the dark.

"I understand. I get those all the time as well. It's okay to cry." The orange-haired man simply said, a smile on his face that Yoongi could hear through his voice.

"Sorry, I know you should be sleeping as well." he said quietly. There was a short moment of silence but it wasn't awkward, Yoongi thought, it was kind of comforting.

"It's okay. I'm here if you need someone to vent to." He explains.

The other thinks about what Taehyung had told him about Hoseok for a short second.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it and I know you don't need to do this." He smiles. He means it and he thinks the younger understands as well.

"What are they like? Your friends. Are they younger than me? I'm 24." Hoseok asks, a yawn escaping him as he looks at Yoongi for the first time he had sat next to his bed.

"Yeah, they are. Jeongguk's 19 and Jimin is 22 but I think it's his birthday soon." He answered, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his nose. Of course, he knew it was Jimin's birthday soon, how could he forget.

"Ah." Hoseok answered shortly, thinking for a second. "Have they killed anyone?" he asks all of a sudden, his voice even as if talking about the weather. Yoongi was quiet for a moment, looking at him in shock.

"I-I'm not sure. I don't think Jimin has killed anyone. Jeongguk seemed to know how to hold a gun but his hands were trembling. I don't think he's killed a human, either." He mumbles. Hoseok sighed and leaned back a bit.

"That's good. That shit changes people. They are never the same afterwards." He says quietly, fumbling with his fingers.

"Have you killed anyone, ever?" Yoongi asked, looking at his new friend from the side. Hoseok's small smile disappeared from his face.

"I have. Have you?" he asked.

The older nods. "Yeah, I have. It was terrible the first time." He says quietly and he thinks for a moment that the orange-haired man is shocked by the way he formulated his words but he just nods in understanding.

"Sometimes you gotta kill a guy." He laughed but there was no humor in it. Instead the words were spit out like venom and Yoongi somehow connected to this man more now. Taehyung was right. Hoseok was good at understanding people, wether they treated him well or not.

"I suppose." he said shortly.

A few more minutes of silence filled the room as both of them seemed to remember all the things they had done in the past three years, both good and bad. How incredible it was for them to be here, to have survived all of the chaos that went down, to have each other. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that, yes, more than 80 percent of the world were probably dead by now and he was one of the few people still alive in Korea. It's insane, Yoongi thought to himself, so much that sometimes it was too hard to bear.

It was Hoseok then who spoke again for the first time after that, his voice was filled with sadness.

"I'm so tired, Yoongi. I want to give up."

The 26-year-old looked at him and when he saw how broken and exhausted his new friend looked, he felt the tiredness and sadness as well.

"I know, me too." he breathed out.

He knew both of them wouldn't try anything weird but it was still important to get the words out. It was a hard life for them after all and the 26-year-old knew everyone kind of felt out of place in this situation and everyone just wanted to get back to their old life.

"I really need to save those two." He talked to the younger again, voice uncharacteristically small.

"We will, I promise."

.

.

.

It was the 17th October when he saw Jimin again after more than a month of suffering.

"Yoongi-hyung." A small voice had breathed out, the sound somewhat forgotten but at the same time so fucking familiar it made him want to cry.

He turned around to see who his friends let into their camp, rushing towards the loud noise that was being made at the entrance of the Seoul Tower. He hadn't trusted his eyes when he first spotted the all too familiar head of black hair, most of the body covered by his other companions who were talking to the man.

"Jimin?"

"Hyung! We need to hurry! They have Jeongguk and they gave him this weird stuff! I-I don't know what to do!"

Tears started to fall from the younger man's eyes when Yoongi stepped closer to him, his arms wrapping around the man's tiny frame tightly.

"Are you okay?!" he yelled into his friend's ear, his eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine but hyung. We-I'm. Please. We can talk about this later. I'm fine. Just help me." He cried, hands grabbing at the older's shirt tightly. Yoongi knew there must've been eyes on him the entire time, the others confused at the interaction that was happening. He looked over at Hoseok and nodded, the younger understanding immediately what was going on.

"You heard the boy. It's time to go!" he then yelled, his boots squeaking when he ran to collect his equipment. Everyone listened to the orange-haired man and packed their things, Yoongi not really noticing any of it, really. He was fucking shocked. What was Jimin doing here? How did he find him?

"Hyung." The younger said again urgently and the soldier snapped out of the shock. He grabbed a few essentials and followed Jimin to the facility, the others following them closely, each of them ready.

Jimin then pointed towards a small entrance to the building, hidden behind a few bushes and all of them made sure to be as quiet as possible so that no one would see and capture them.

All of them went into the building safely, Namjoon standing outside to make sure they were going to get out safely as well. The 26-year-old noticed how Seokjin seemed to have a hard time parting from his husband, both of them sharing a worried look and a quick kiss. He didn't want the kiss for them to have been the last one.

Quickly all of them followed Jimin to one of the halls that he had seen when he was in the building for the first time, people still lined up and blood draining from their veins. He looked over at Taehyung who seemed to have been oddly quiet even for this situation. He felt sorry for the fact that his friend had to endure all of this again and he was proud that he would help Yoongi despite his fears. "You okay?" he had whispered to the younger man quietly and the brunette nodded, eyes determined and strong. Yoongi had been wrong.

Taehyung wasn't scared, he was seething.

He turned his head back around and took Jimin's small hand into his own, the boy shooting him a small smile and leading them further through the halls. It was hard for them to do so because the halls were pretty quiet already and footsteps were easy to be heard. They had to move slowly and quietly.

They seemed to have arrived the place Jimin had pointed them to and they all looked through a big glass window carefully, watching as two men in white coats gave some sort of liquid to Jeongguk who was tied to a chair. He seemed to be unconscious or sleeping but Yoongi still felt the rage that was building in his chest when he saw how the boy was being treated.

They agreed to watch just for a second longer as Jimin seemed to panic when they got up to go to the door. "Not yet." He had formed with his mouth and they nodded, understanding his intention.

The soldier watched what happened to his 19-year-old friend.

"Neuroleptic." Jimin and Seokjin mumbled under their breath and the rest of their group looked at them, then back to what was happening behind the glass.

The first man seemed to Inject another liquid into Jeongguk's veins while the other fastened the restrains even more. His friend woke up then, looking around and watching, terrified how the man, who had just injected the liquid,which obviously didn't keep him asleep, now attaches another tube to his arm. The same weird thing then flowed into his friend's body as he had seen when he had been in the building the first time.

It was the virus.

Yoongi was scarred as to what would happen to the youngest of them and he bit his lip. Jimin turned around and buried his head in his chest, whispering "They're doing it again." and he knew this was what his friend meant when he had told him that they were gibing Jeongguk something weird.

They could only watch as the brown-haired boy started screaming and squirming in the chair, his eyes watery and tears flowing steadily. The heartbeat in the 26-year-old's ears got louder and he felt how his lungs contracted, suddenly all of the oxygen seeming to leave his body. He felt sick.

"Oh god." Seokjin whispered, a hand covering his mouth as he watched what happened. Taehyung didn't turn away and just looked at the scene with a murderous look on his face.

The only one who wasn't watching anymore was Hoseok, who was slowly inching closer towards the door. When Yoongi shot him a look that said "What in the fucking hell are you doing?", his friend pointed towards the display that was next to the door, the same one he had seen next to the elevators in the building. He nodded and let his friend do his thing. Yoongi kept an eye on anyone that might spot him, though.

He heard more gasps from the rest of the team, telling the soldier that more weird and dangerous things were happening to his friend that he would rather _not_ see.

He then heard a tiny clicking sound and looked over to Hoseok who looked at him with a big grin on his face, his hands holding a small screwdriver in his big hands. He had picked the lock. They just needed to get Jeongguk out of that room now.

Easier said than done.

"Hey!" he called over to the others, efficiently tearing their eyes off of the boy in the white room. They saw how Hoseok slowly opened the door just a little bit and got ready to go.

Yoongi counted with his fingers for everyone to see.

1…2…3!

It all went incredibly fast, first Hoseok attacked the one that had injected the liquid, successfully pinning him to the floor. Yoongi stumbled a bit but pulled out his knife before the other guy could attack him and cut his throat swiftly. Hoseok knocked the other man out as well, his body lying limb on the floor. The rest followed as their boots squeaked on the now slightly red-colored tiles.

What they saw was scarier then they had witnessed through the window. Jeongguk's body was convulsing and spasming constantly, his whole torso trembling to an uneven rhythm. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Seokjin asked, his eyes going wide. "I've never seen anything like this."

"They put the virus inside his body. Seems like he has that kinda blood they were looking for." Yoongi said, observing his friend a little closer. Jimin seemed to be on the verge of tears but just stared at his friend. The white-haired man felt sorry for him.

"Let me handle it." Taehyung suddenly said, his voice confident. He stepped closer than anyone else dared to and put a hand on the brown-haired man, counting to ten and talking to him a moment later.

"Hey, Jeongguk?" he spoke softly, all of them watching his movements. It was weird to see the contrast between the two boys. Taehyung being so calm and confident while the 19-year-old was squirming so violently and seeming to be out of control. The movements he made were almost alien-ish, making it seem like he was from another planet. He looked the same, though. No change in hair or skin color like Yoongi had experienced it. He wondered why.

"I'm not sure what to do but we definitely need to take them with us. We need to find out how to help him." Taehyung looked over at Seokjin, who nodded and took a look at the medicines and liquids in the room, taking with him as much as he could. Jimin, who had been silently crying, shakily joined him, telling the other man that he was a doctor as well.

"Alright. We need to calm him down first, though. Otherwise we can't take him with us." He answered, his voice slightly nervous. Yoongi knew they didn't have much time. Other guards must've been alarmed already.

"Jin, give me something to knock this guy out." Taehyung answered and Seokjin complied, although he shoved the younger boy to the side and injected the medicine himself. They were lucky the restrains were still on the boy's arms and legs.

A moment passed before the desired effect took place but they all breathed out a sigh, relieved that it worked at all. "So much for handling the boy on your own, Tae." The 26-year-old rolled his eyes, his friend scoffing and turning around, probably thinking about a way to get the unconscious boy out of there. "I'm not even sure what they do with people like this. I've never seen someone survive it." He whispered under his breath, though no one seemed to pay attention to him, already trying to carry the boy out while the others looked for guards.

They moved quickly, Taehyung and Hoseok working together to get the, admittedly buff, young boy out of the building. Seokjin was the last one to follow, guarding the back. He and Jimin walked in the front, Yoongi protecting and Jimin guiding them towards the exit.

Right when they were about to escape they heard loud gunshots echoing thoughout the halls and a pained groan. Quickly Hoseok and Taehyung put the sleeping boy on the floor, getting out their guns and shooting at the people that were quickly coming their way. "Fuck." Yoongi muttered as he spotted the injured Surgeon on the floor, hands pressing against his leg as he moaned in pain.

"Jimin, help him!" he yelled and said black-haired boy looked at him in shock, nodding and immediately sitting down to somehow help Seokjin with his injury. It was all on him now.

Pushing the unnecessary thoughts aside, he went back to work, shooting anyone who came into his sight that didn't belong to his team. There was no room for hesitation now. And really, after what they had done to Jeongguk he couldn't find it in himself to care what happened to these people.

Suddenly there was a man approaching Jimin from the back, his eyes trained on the younger boy. The older man's blood pressure shot up.

He heard the bang before he saw the bullet entering the guard's head, ironically.

Jimin looked up, a shocked expression on his face when Yoongi turned his head as well, looking at an angry Hoseok, who had already turned back around. There were less people coming towards them now, some of them hinding behind metal to protect themselves from the shots. This was their opportunity to escape so in the whole chaos he somehow managed to signal to everyone that they needed to leave _now_.

They first got Jeongguk and Seokjin, only Yoongi himself and Hoseok defending themselves against the rest of the guys coming their way. He could only imagine the look on Namjoon's face when he saw his husband like this, injured and almost dead. It wouldn't be easy on him.

They finally breathed in the air of the outside world, quickly but carefully making their way towards the next block of buildings, looking for an opportunity to hide. It was difficult to move like this when they had two people who were unable to move. The white-haired man's arm hurt from the metal that was clinging to it, whose was prothesis feeling oddly heavy in this situation, remembering Namjoon's words suddenly, who had told him not to overdo it with the next upgrade. He couldn't rest in a situation like this so he'd just have to deal with the soreness and blisters later, he didn't care.

Jimin was right in front of him, constantly checking up on Seokjin and holding a piece of cloth to his leg to stop most of the bleeding, which was difficult while they were running, almost impossible actually.

That's why when they finally got back to the tower after driving in a van for a while, each minute passing painfully slowly with the anxiety and fear of losing his friend in the back of his head, the first thing they did was lay Seokjin down on a table. Jimin was there again instantly, demanding for all sorts of medical equipment and in that moment Yoongi noticed that, holy shit, this was the first time Jimin would be operating on a real person and maybe this wasn't so good. They couldn't help it, though, after all Seokjin was the one injured and at least they had a doctor there at all.

Namjoon's panicked screams and complaints of "Will he be okay?" "Oh god, please let him be okay." "I can't live without him, please help." didn't help ease the tension in the room, Hoseok and Jimin grunting at everyone to leave the room. And they finally did, hardly managing to get Namjoon out of the room.

"Not you, hyung." He heard Jimin's small voice call suddenly. However, when he turned around he didn't see the small boy he met months ago, instead he was confronted with a young man, determined to save another man's life.

"You need to help me, hyung." he then said, facing Yoongi and handing him a pair of gloves. He was so glad they prepared this room before the mission.

"Okay." He replied back, breathing in deeply. Seokjin's pained grunts and groans were the only sound in the room, making it hard for the older. It was hard to see his friend like this but he needed to go through with this. He had done this more than one time, he had witnessed how some of his friends died. It had never been this personal before, though. He was fucking stressed.

Jeongguk was still asleep so he had to wait for now.

He saw how the younger doctor's hands started to stir a little bit, small tremors rocking his fingers. He just needed to start but Yoongi knew this must be incredibly hard for the younger despite his good intentions. All the insecurities must've been coming back to the now 23-year-old and he could tell how nervous he was on the inside.

"You can do it, Jimin. I believe in you. Just relax." He smiled a little at the other, hoping it didn't look as shaky as it felt. The shorter man then gave him a short nod and his hands stopped trembling suddenly, as he stepped closer to his friend's body.

"I'll start now."


	9. Chapter 9 Ohana

Once they had injected some sort of medicine into Seokjin's bloodstream, "Usually there's a lot we need to prepare before we do this-" "Jimin just fucking start with the operation." Jimin started working on the leg, carefully removing the bullet that was still inside the flesh and sowing it shut with small but steady hands. Yoongi was there, giving him the needed equipment and also some moral support. When it was all done after about 50 minutes, the black-haired boy sat down on the floor, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Yoongi in the meantime called Hoseok and Taehyung to carry the man back to his bed as to not stress Namjoon out any further. The boy has had it rough today.

When he made sure the oldest man in their team was well treated and resting, he made his way back to the operation room or whatever was left of it. Jimin was still crouching on the floor when he arrives, concern stirring in his stomach at the sight of his friend being so exhausted and, probably, mentally tired as well.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked softly, sitting down next to the young doctor. His friend's face looked tired, bags already forming under his eyes slightly but his eyes looked restless, blood showing at the corners. He nodded a bit but didn't say anything back to the soldier who put a hand on his back and rubbed soft tiny circles into his shirt. It seemed to calm the boy down a bit, his shoulders losing tension.

"You did an amazing job, you know. No one else could've done the things you've done today. I-" he cut himself off for a second, his hand stilling on Jimin's back. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up today."

There was a short moment of silence in which the younger slowly turned around to face Yoongi.

"I'm glad I found you, too." he whispered and pulled the white-haired man into a soft hug. He didn't react at first, surprised at the action but soon found himself hugging the smaller man tightly in fear of losing him again.

"How did you do it?" he asked then, voice muffled as he pressed his face into the fabric of the 23-year-old's shirt.

The black-haired boy then pulled out a very familiar item and showed it to Yoongi, distancing himself a bit for him to see. "It looked so familiar when I found it. At first they were trying to put me into this weird room but you taught me how to steal someone's weapon remember? So I –" he started, hesitating a bit as the half transformed man's eyes grew wide "I cut him in the leg and he let me go, so I ran and found this on the way out.".

The item that was in his friend's small hands was the device Yoongi lost when he first entered the building. He took it from Jimin, examining it and turning it on, surprised that it was working at all. For almost the whole time he was wandering through Korea had it not once worked for him and now it was?

Before Yoongi could ask his friend where he found it and why it worked, he answered it already. "I was out on my way through the main hall, I think. Saw it laying on a table while I was hiding and it looked so much like the thing you had when we were walking around, so I took it. It didn't work at first but I tried a few things out and then it turned on and showed me a way to some location. And since I knew you wanted to go to that place I was sure that it belonged to you, so I followed the directions it gave me." And found you. The words weren't spoken but the white-haired man was freaking grateful he found that stupid old thing. When the older looked back at his friend he saw tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, a small smile on his face.

"I knew you'd come to help us so I was sure it was yours. I'm so glad I found it, Yoongi." A small tear rolled down his cheek and he was quick to wipe it away, rough hands on Jimin's soft skin.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I- I really wanted to help you but then you just showed up and first I found Tae-" he shook his head and looked back at the younger who was listening carefully. "I just wish I would've helped you sooner. I'm happy you're back." He hugged the smaller boy tightly again, afraid that someone might take him away from Yoongi again. He wouldn't be able to handle that.

"The whole time I felt like I was dead but still breathing. Every day was more or less a blur because I was so worried about you two, I mean it. Next time someone else puts his hands on you, you better cut those fucking hands off, understand?" Jimin giggled loudly at his friend's attitude but hugged him back tightly nonetheless. They stayed like this for a while until it got slightly awkward and they parted from each other.

"Hyung?" Jimin's soft voice called out, his hands holding the fabric of his big sweater tightly. "Hm?" he replied, ready to get up and go to his own room, the day had been stressful enough as it was. "Nevermind." His friend said, voice uneasy. "No, it's fine. You can talk to me." He said, voice clearer now. "Can I sleep in your room today? I'm still, you know." The black-haired boy mumbled quietly, his head hanging a bit.

Heat shot up Yoongi's face, which really shouldn't happen but here they were and wow, he really wanted that.

"Sure."

A small smile was soon found on the younger man's face and they both walked over to Yoongi's bed, the room a bit limited but they would manage. Once they were both tugged in and Jimin's head was laying on Yoongi's shoulder, did he allow himself to finally go to sleep.

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The next day Yoongi found himself tangled up with the small black-haired boy, who sighed softly in his sleep as the older got up to see what time it was. It was kind of cute, really, to see the younger man like this, vulnerable and soft, everything Yoongi wants. But once again he swallows down the affection that has grown towards the boy and puts the arm that has slung itself around Yoongi's waist in the middle of the night down and gets up from the creaking bed to look for the others and maybe get some breakfast. He didn't have the heart, however, to leave the younger man alone just yet, taking a few moments to appreciate his presence after such a long time of being away from him.

It was when the young doctor started to stir that he left the room and went downstairs to meet Namjoon, who seemed like he hadn't slept all night, dark circles being very prominent under his eyes. Yoongi put his hand on his shoulder reassuringly, whispering a few words of encouragement. "He's going to be fine, Joon. Jimin did a good job." He said quietly, the other man thanking him with a nod and proceeding to eat his breakfast.

"Yoongs, want something to eat?" the orange-haired man beamed, already giving him something to drink. "Yeah, thanks." He thanked him, putting the glass to his lips and drinking the whole thing down, his throat finally losing its dryness. Hoseok proceeded to cook something for them, eggs and bread or something Yoongi couldn't quite see. He was grateful that they had any food at all.

"How's that friend of yours? Jimin?" the younger than asked, his back turned. "He's, well, kind of like Tae, you know? A bit scared and absent? I guess. I think anyone would be in a weird place after spending so much time with those crazy people." He mumbled, watching as his friend cooked.

"He seemed like a nice guy. Way too soft, though." He laughed and Yoongi silently agreed.

When they were done with breakfast Jimin showed up as well, his small hands pulling his shirt down as he was only wearing short shorts. "Morning." he called softly, grinning a bit as he saw Yoongi smiling at him. "Hey, you're awake." Hoseok said and pat his shoulder lightly. "Sit down, I made food. I'm Hoseok, by the way. I don't think you've really met anyone here properly yesterday."

The 23-year-old nodded shyly and introduced himself as well, meanwhile Hoseok made small cooing noises, telling the younger man how cute he was. Namjoon introduced himself as well. "I'm Namjoon and I know this is really sudden but thank you so much for saving my husband. Seriously." He took the black-haired boy's hands in his firmly and bowed a bit, his face scrunched up. Jimin shook his head, telling his friend how glad he was everything worked out.

"I'm just glad I could help him, really. You all wanted to help Yoongi out when he was looking for us and I'm so grateful. There would've been no way I wasn't going to help Seokjin." He smiled and Namjoon thanked him again, pulling him into a small hug, which was kind of funny since Namjoon was so tall and the other very small in comparison.

Once that was done they all sat down and Jimin ate his breakfast. Soon Taehyung showed up as well and introduced himself.

"Were you with Jeongguk the entire night?" Namjoon asked, his mouth full with bread. "Yeah, he seems to have nightmares a lot. I didn't want him to feel alone. I don't think he's completely conscious yet." He mumbles, sitting down as well and asking Hoseok for coffee. "Do you think he will get better?" Jimin asked, his voice small and the room got quiet for a second.

"Yeah, I just think he needs more time. I'm surprised he survived the incident in the first place, most people transform instantly but he didn't. I'm still trying to find out what's going on." Taehyung answered, his voice tired but confident. It seemed to relax the small boy a bit, a small smile dancing on his lips.

They just chatted with each other for a while, getting to know each other a bit more until Namjoon and Taehyung went into the other room to check on the injured men. They needed to eat something, too.

Yoongi followed them a while after, since he was worried about Jeongguk as well, not having seen him since the day before.

"How is he feeling?" he asked Taehyung, who was standing next to the old bed. "He fell asleep again but I think we'll be able to talk to him by tomorrow." He said, a grin on his face. "You are his friend already, aren't you?" the 26-year-old laughed and the other nodded, clearly happy to take care of the younger boy. However, when he looked over to the other side of the room he couldn't help but feel bad as he watched how Namjoon sat next to his husband's bed, his hand holding the other's tightly.

"I knew this would happen eventually." The brown-haired man said, his eyes still on the pale complexion of Seokjin. "I knew we'd get in trouble at some point, I mean there's a ton of danger outside but I thought-" he started sobbing after a while, Yoongi and Taehyung sitting next to him. "I just thought I'd be able to protect him. I promised." He cried silently as the other two said nothing but tried to comfort him anyway. They understood his pain perfectly. "He'll be alright, Joon. I know it. Jin isn't as weak as he may seem at times." Taehyung answered with an honest smile. Yoongi nodded in agreement and they fell back into silence afterwards.

After a while he returned back to the kitchen where the doctor finished his food and helped Hoseok with the cleaning. "Jimin." He called, the younger boy turning around in question. "How long will it take for Jin to heal?" he asked, oddly out of breath. "Well, I don't think there will be infections if he keeps it clean and he definitely needs to rest so I'm honestly not sure. It can take weeks, maybe months." he replied, brows furrowing a bit.

"Alright, I'll tell Joon." He said and Jimin shot him a grateful smile, probably glad that he doesn't have to talk to Namjoon about it himself. At least they knew Seokjin would be okay.

When he got back the man didn't seem to have moved from his husband's side at all, hands still clenching the other's tightly.

"Jimin said it's gonna take longer than weeks, probably, until he's completely fine." He said in a soft voice as to not stress out his friend any further.

He nodded slightly, his head hanging low again. "It's going to be tough but I expected this already. I might not know much about medicine but I've looked over Jinnie's shoulders a few times and I know a wound like this takes time." Yoongi was surprised by how well the man took everything in. It was kind of admirable. "I'm just glad he's not dead, you know? I don't know what I would've done without him, I love him so much." He croaked out, eyes lingering on the injured man once more and Yoongi mumbled a silent "Yes." Before he left the room again.

He wondered what it was like to love someone so deeply and honestly as Namjoon and Seokjin did. He never saw it with his parents, both of them fighting or simply ignoring each other and really, he was never the type for relationships. His mental health was always in the way in some way, the thoughts ruining Yoongi's partners for himself and ruining himself for whoever he was dating. He was surprised he found Jimin interesting at all and yes, he was kind of hoping for something more to be between them.

He was a little jealous at the way Namjoon and Seokjin looked at each other, how comfortable they were and how they talked, even if the pet names were a bit much sometimes.

"Hey, are you okay?" a very familiar voice called out to him and he felt his face flush a bit, hoping that his friend couldn't read minds. "Yeah, 'm fine. It's just a lot to take in." he mumbled, his hand trembling a little. The younger seemed to notice his uneasiness and stepped a bit closer, taking Yoongi's hands in his. "We'll do better in a few days." He knew he wasn't just talking about Seokjin and Jeongguk but also about everyone else, since they all seemed to be very exhausted and just fucking done with everything.

"Thanks, Jimin." He smiled a little, even if it was a little shaky. Jimin smiled back, his smile twice as big, so much that his cheeks squished a little bit. It was cute.

"Should we go outside? I think you need some fresh air, hyung." Hyung, he missed that.

"Yeah, sure."

They went out on the roof, if you could call it that, and looked at the scenery. They could see most of the city from here, all the buildings blocking everything else that might've been close to the ground.

"You know, that place was exactly how I remembered." His friend mumbled, eyes distant as they sat down. Yoongi scrunched his brows together.

"What do you mean."

"The only reason why I knew how to get out of it was because I was so familiar with their technology, hyung."

Sudden realization hit him as he listened to the younger boy. Of course, he had been with those kinds of people for most of the apocalypse. How could he not have been familiar with it?

He didn't say anything in return and waited for Jimin to continue talking.

"The layout of the building was different but so similar. The metal walls, the halls with the humans in it, just everything. It felt like a hospital or prison, I'm not sure. But I'm so glad I'm not in there anymore. They hurt people a lot." He mumbles, eyes growing glassy and for a second Yoongi was scared his little companion would start crying again but he didn't.

"I really want to help those people." The 23-year-old whispers softly, voice filled with pain. It broke the soldier's heart to know that there were more people in those buildings, suffering in the way his friends had. It was simply inhuman for them to do things like this, experimenting on them. Even Yoongi himself was more human than those people would ever be.

"I want to as well." he whispered back, taking the smaller man's hand in his own human one. He felt warm.

"Thank you, hyung. I appreciate it." The black-haired boy answered and Yoongi chuckled.

"There's nothing to thank me for. I'm just looking for something to do. I found my friends so it's time to make new goals." He looked at Jimin intently, his gaze feeling as sharp as the pain that was slowly creeping up Yoongi's arm from not taking off his prothesis for so long.

"You know, I do bad things and I do them very well." He starts, Jimin's eyes growing a bit wide at the serious way he was talking. "But you make me feel alive, more than anything ever has, Jimin. And I want to keep it that way, I don't want to do the things I do." He continues, ignoring the way his friend's face seemed to grow a bit red.

"But I need you to know that everything I do is necessary for us to survive, okay?"

There was a short, tense silence between them and Yoongi couldn't help but feel anxious, afraid that Jimin would judge him for the bad things he had done. He wouldn't be surprised, he was repelled by the things he had done as well.

"Okay. I think I understand." Yoongi releases the breath he didn't realize he was holding and let go of the boy's hand.

"Good."

He couldn't help but feel disappointed by the way they lost touch but it was better this way. He shouldn't get too close, it was dangerous for Jimin.

It was then that they heard screaming from downstairs and they shot up, running down the tall stairs to get to the room Jeongguk and Seokjin were resting in.

"I can't make him stop screaming!" Taehyung yelled himself, holding Jeongguk's arms and pushing them down. Namjoon and Hoseok were there as well, helping him. Jimin immediately rushed to his side and gave him one of the medicines they kept in the room to keep him calm.

"Let me go! Let me the fuck go!" the youngest boy was yelling, his eyes wide and voice desperate. It ripped Yoongi's heart in two to see him like this, suffering even though he was safe with them.

"Shhh, Kookie, you'll be fine." Jimin hushed and directed the other men to hold him down firmly so he could give him the sedative.

After about a minute or two the boy calmed down completely his limbs relaxing and eyes slightly hooded. All of them sighed in relief and let the boy go, looking at him with shocked expressions.

"I don't think this has anything to do with the virus. I think this is all just mentally challenging for him."

PTSD. Jeongguk has Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Or at least something similar to it.

Yoongi recognized it from the times he was in the army, some of his colleges coming back from a mission, all of them terrified and anxious even though there was no danger near them. It was heartbreaking to see what these situations did to people.

Even worse now that the boy was just so young.

"Please leave him be for a while, the more people are here the more stressed he gets."

Hoseok and Namjoon left the room and even though Yoongi might not help in this situation, it was good for Jeongguk to have someone familiar around him.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked the younger boy softly, careful not to startle him too much.

"Yoongi-hyung?" his rough voice called out, a small cough escaping his mouth from dehydration. Jimin was quick to fix that as he grabbed a glass of water and the boy took small sips, looking up at the black-haired man.

"Yeah, it's me and Jimin. You remember us, right?" Yoongi smiled, taking the boy's hand in his own.

"Yeah, 'course." The younger mumbled back, turning his head to look at Taehyung, who was smiling down at him softly as well.

"Who-?"

"My name's Taehyung. I took care of you while you were unconscious. Me and the others helped Jimin and Yoongi-hyung to get you out of that building." He said softly. It was weird to hear his rough voice like this again after he was so angry at the time they tried to safe the boy. Yoongi was glad he went back to his normal self.

"Uh. I don't remember much but your voice seems familiar." The dark-haired boy mumbles, looking at Taehyung with wide eyes, earning a chuckle from the other man. "That's okay. I talked to you a lot during the time you were here. You had a lot of nightmares but I think we can fix that." He looked over at Jimin.

"Jimin-hyung will help you as well, since he's a doctor. Jin-hyung can help you, too. But he needs to get better himself, first." Taehyung points over his shoulder with his thumb where the oldest member of their group was located and Jeongguk looked over, his eyes growing even wider and his expression looking a bit guilty.

"Did he get hurt because of me?" he croaks out and immediately all of them start worrying. It wasn't good for the boy to get even more stressed right now.

"He did get hurt but it wasn't because of you. He made the decision to come with us." Taehyung explains, voice reassuring. "He will be fine, don't worry. Jimin was an excellent doctor." He laughs quietly and Yoongi was grateful his friend was like this, cheerful and genuine, making everyone around him feel safe and well taken care of.

Jeongguk still looked slightly uncomfortable but Taehyung's words seemed to have taken their effect at least a little, the tension easing out of the boy's shoulders just a little bit.

"Just focus on getting better for now and just call when you need us."

The other nodded again, sinking just a little bit more into the bed. It made the 19-year-old look like a child with his head peeking out from the blanket, his eyes big and concerned. It made Yoongi want to protect him from any kind of harm.

"Can one of you stay until I fall asleep? I don't really want to be alone right now." Yoongi knew the request was hard for the boy to speak out loud so all of them shared a look and Taehyung nodded, already right by Jeongguk's side. Jimin and him just watched as Taehyung slowly fed some food to the dark-haired boy, hushing quietly whenever he would make a noise of distress.

They figured it was time to leave them alone.

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It'd been a week since they had saved Jeongguk from the facility when Yoongi started feeling guilty. He wondered how far the people in there had come with their experiments, how many people they had already turned into zombies and what was happening there in general. He felt his feelings eating at him in the night even when Jimin was close to him and he really just wanted to go there and save each of them, even if he was usually one to mind his own business.

During that time, he had noticed how Taehyung and Jeongguk had gotten closer, both seeming to be good friends by now and his anxiety lessened a bit, knowing that the boy was recovering steadily. Seokjin was getting better as well even if Jimin had to check on him often. The surgeon complained a lot, saying that he was more experienced than Jimin anyway and that he could take care of himself but the younger shut him up with a short "Do you want to be just another annoying patient?" and the oldest member chuckled a bit, knowing how tiring it was to deal with people like him.

Namjoon was a bit less stressed but still obviously worried about his husband, only leaving his side for a few minutes before returning and apologizing. It was heartwarming as it was worrying because if Seokjin did get hurt again they knew it would be even harder for Namjoon, the man struck with guilt. Yoongi could identify with that very well, the bad feeling of having left the other two boys alone eating at him steadily.

"Should we make a bonfire?" Jimin asked, already collecting things to burn. Everyone looked at him funny, laughing at the small boy's offer but no one really had anything against it so they helped him set everything up, everyone sitting in a circle very soon. It was nice. They were kind of like a small family.

"Okay, who wants to tell a story?" Taehyung asked, sitting next to their youngest member and Yoongi rolled his eyes. That boy was gone for their youngest already. How cute.

"Me!" called Seokjin, who winced slightly at the movement he made but his smile returned very soon, his voice picking up in volume for everyone to hear.

"So one time Joonie burned our dinner-" he started and everyone laughed, knowing how clumsy the now groaning partner was.

"And I knew it was him because who else would burn our dinner, right? I was cleaning and asked him to take care of it for like two minutes. So I asked him about it." He continued and Namjoon put his face in his hands.

"Can you please not?"

Seokjin just glared at him and continued his story. "And that man deadass tells me that it was me. What the hell." He laughs and Namjoon seemed to chuckle now as well.

"I was drunk, okay?"

"Hell yeah you were. You were like a skeleton, you know. So easy to see through." He laughed in his squeaky voice and some people groaned at the terrible joke, half laughing at the story. Jimin seemed to love it though, falling to his side with laughter, soft squeaks leaving his mouth. It was quite contagious, so Yoongi eventually started chuckling as well.

"Please stop." Namjoon wheezed as he held his stomach.

"No. I'm still pissed about this."

"That was four years ago!" it just made everyone laugh harder. Who knew a married couple's problems could be this entertaining.

"You weren't even dressed. You just yelled at me in your _underwear_ and told me to fuck off. Who did I marry? I still don't know."

"Just. Let it go, okay."

"This isn't Frozen, Kim Namjoon."

"Oh my god, shut up."

"Is this how you talk to your beloved husband?" Seokjin put his hand on his chest, faking a shocked expression and even Yoongi was amused by this, his stomach hurting from laughing so hard.

"Why did I marry you?"

"I'm also older than you! Give me more respect you idiot!"

There was just no way Namjoon would win in this relationship, the soldier thought and took another sip from his drink.

He was glad they had found some beer while they were out on the streets that week, collecting more food as that was lacking at some point after more people joined their team.

"Okay before those two kill each other we should talk about something else." Hoseok said in the middle of it, enjoying a beer as well.

"Jeongguk, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?" Namjoon then asked softly, his deep voice radiating around the room.

Said boy looked up, a bit shy but smiled slightly when Taehyung gave him an encouraging nod.

"Alright, I guess. What do you wanna know?"

"What did you enjoy while you were in school? Like what do you like to do?" Namjoon then asked, putting his hand on his chin.

"I did a lot of stuff, actually." The brown-haired boy mumbled, looking down and blushing a bit. "I was in a few clubs at school, mainly sports. I danced, ran marathons, did archery. I also like to draw a lot. I made my own maps before Yoongi and Jimin-hyung found me. I was also really good at video games, I guess. Participated in a few competitions." He said, playing with his shirt.

Everyone gaped at him for a second.

"Are you serious? You did all of that? That's crazy!" Hoseok said, standing up from his seat and patting Jeongguk's shoulders who was smiling back at him a bit bashfully.

"We should host a party or something. I miss dancing, honestly." Hoseok said and everyone looked a bit surprised. "I didn't know you danced, Hoseok-hyung." Jimin said, grinning widely. Yoongi wasn't aware of this fact, either. Then again, he didn't know too much about his new friend but was interested in what the boy was going to tell them about himself.

"Well, technology isn't the only thing I think about." He laughed loudly and the others joined in.

"Did you dance, too, Jimin? You look like you'd do great." The orange-haired man said loudly and Yoongi looked at the younger man.

"I'm not sure. My memory isn't there completely but I would love to try it!" Jimin answered enthusiastically and Hoseok smiled back, clearly excited. It made the 26-year-old want to try new things as well, maybe he'd be able to get back to music now that he achieved his goal. First, they had to help those other people, though. The danger wasn't over just yet.

They chatted more for a bit and learned a lot about each other until everyone got too tired and went to bed. Yoongi's device read 3:44 am when he looked at it before he climbed into his own bed, Jimin already sleeping soundly.

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Needless to say, it was an entertaining evening.


	10. Chapter 10 End Of Something New

It was the third week Jimin had slept in the same bed with Yoongi when the older decided it was time to confess his feelings. It was terrible timing, really, all of them outside on missions designed for each of them and he just happened to get teamed up with the first person he met in all this chaos.

They figured it was time to actually prepare to fight those people that tortured and killed those other humans in the facility. It was hard with only seven people, though, so they thought it might be a good idea to look for other teams and survivors, such as the ones Jeongguk had been traveling with before. They were in teams of two and one with three while they were outside. It was hard to separate for so long but they had devices to stay in contact with each other and by now each of them knew how to defend themselves.

It had been especially hard to part from their youngest, Jeongguk, who had been making a lot of progress over the weeks with Taehyung, who was sort of like a therapist to him by now. Yoongi could see the affection the older boy held for the other and was slightly calmer when he found out that those two were in a team together, Hoseok joining them since they were the youngest. Seokjin and Namjoon walked together as well, obviously, both of them inseparable. Seokjin had been improving his health steadily and surprisingly quickly. He still had some trouble walking but that was fixed since both of them had the medical knowledge to know how to deal with it. Namjoon had checked on Yoongi's prothesis one more time before saying their goodbyes for the time being.

Jimin and him were alone gain now and it felt kind of weird after being surrounded by so many people all the time. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy the time with him, quite the opposite, actually. His feelings had grown into a full-on crush, even thinking about maybe spending the rest of his life with the black-haired boy and, fuck it, he really did love him, didn't he?

Problem was, he didn't know if the smaller of them knew it or even felt the same, so he kept quiet for just a little while longer.

He remembered the talk he had with Hoseok before they parted.

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"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"We are just friends."

"The boy almost snapped his neck trying to find out who or what you were laughing at, the boy is _whipped_. Seriously, how can you not see it?"

"I just don't feel like he'd be into me like that."

"Sure, go and tell yourself that."

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Things changed, however, after they were attacked right outside of Seoul. The breeze was oddly calm and for some reason the soldier was getting reckless, not looking at every corner and that's when it happened. Five or four, he didn't quite see, zombies launching at them immediately, forcing him to snap out of his trance, pulling out weapons and protecting Jimin as best he could, after all, he couldn't bear to see the other die. They then hid in a small house surrounded by trees when they finally caught their breaths, both looking at each other and it just happened like that, lips touching suddenly and Yoongi felt his eyes sting with tears of relief because, wow, that was close.

He didn't quite realize they were kissing until he felt short of breath for a different reason and slightly parted from the younger who was looking at Yoongi like he was his entire world. It was weird how with everything happening around you, you couldn't see how close you got to that one person until they were in your arms.

"I think now is the time I should tell you that I love you, hyung." Jimin laughed, his voice a bit quiet and his cheeks flushed. Yoongi's were probably not looking any better, damn it. He wanted to be cool about this.

"Yeah, good idea." He answered, hands sweaty. The look Jimin gave him was deadly and he laughed, kissing the other quickly.

"I love you too, idiot. You make me feel so fucking alive, it's dumb."

He didn't know why he was saying these things but they almost died, for fuck's sake and it could happen all over again in just a second and hell, he didn't want to lose Jimin again.

"Why do you like me, though? I'm awkward as fuck." he asked, curious as to why someone as bright and cheerful would go for someone as grumpy and dangerous as Yoongi.

"Yeah, that's kinda what drew me in. Your anxiety ridden charm." Jimin said back, his voice serious and Yoongi laughed loudly, surprised at the sarcasm that was coming out of the other's mouth.

"God, this is weird." He chuckled, feeling oddly shy around the other man now. "So, I guess we are dating if people still call it that?" Jimin asked, voice unsure but still amused.

"Yep. I'm not going anywhere. Well, I am but with you." His rambling was embarrassing but his boyfriend (holy _shit_ , boyfriend!) didn't seem to mind.

They kept walking around kind of aimlessly after that, always sticking together because they knew what would happen if they didn't and it worked for a while.

Next thing they knew, they found another one of the facilities, the big building quite similar to the once they've come across before and a cold shudder rocked Yoongi's body when he saw it, Jimin clenching his arm tightly with his small hands. It was haunting, really. The big open space around the building seemed like a damn graveyard and he didn't look forward to the mission but it had to be done. Now that everyone was supporting him, he was certain they would succeed.

He contacted the others over the phone and thank god, everyone answered. They checked up on each other from time to time but sometimes there just was no signal and it led to the fact that Yoongi and Jimin worried about their friends for hours before they heard another word from them. They didn't announce their progress in their relationship just yet, keeping it as a secret for now.

"We found another building, guys." Yoongi spoke, his voice rough from inhaling the dust the whole day.

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"We're on our way.

Hi! Thank you guys so much for reading, I had a great time writing this. I might continue this story in the furture but as as of now, I'm ending it here.

See you next time!


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